


Among The Cold Stars

by Fox_Not_Dead



Category: RWBY
Genre: AU, F/F, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:54:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27558682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fox_Not_Dead/pseuds/Fox_Not_Dead
Summary: Among the stars and planets, there are stations floating around, hosting many people and groups, providing shelter and promise of stable future. For Weiss, that stable future ended not that long ago, now she wanders in hopes of finding something to hold on to. Perhaps Vale Station will provide just that.AU.
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

Deep in the dark silent vacuum, a ship flies towards a lone, fairly big structure of a space station. A tower-like building stood atop and shone its bright emerald light onto approaching ship, revealing a young woman with silky smooth white hair, dressed in a jacket with long coattails and simple dark pants. She sat in the cockpit and typed on the console, hailing the station.

"Vale Control this is ISC 'The Defiant,' requesting permission to land, over." The girl said in almost commanding tone.

"The Defiant, this is Vale Control, permission granted," came an almost bored response. "Please follow the coordinates and go to docking bay Omega-12."

As the computer received the route, the craft glided over to lower side of the station. Entering the hangar bay littered with small catwalks with railings and slowly setting the ship down on one of four landing pads, the white-haired girl went and checked her belt: a small pouch and a hilt strapped on the side.

* * *

As soon as the landing gear touched the ground, she shut off of the console, quickly walked off into the cargo hold and lowered the ramp. The girl was greeted by a big glowing sign: "Level 1." Three figures dressed in black light armor approached her. Two of them were young women, one was lean but muscular with red hair and jade-colored eyes, the other was also a redhead but considerably smaller and had aqua eyes. Leading them was a blonde man with slight grin and almost boyish blue eyes.

"Good evening, my lady," the man began in friendly manner. "My name is Jaune Arc and I'm CO of local security forces here." The man then gestured to his colleagues. "This is Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie."

"Hi!" Nora bounced slightly, giving a mock salute.

"Hello," Pyrrha gave a polite smile and a nod.

"Good evening, officers. My name is Weiss, I'm an independent trader," the girl replied with a nod of her own and closed the ramp.

Jaune looked over the ship. It was almost like a mixture of a freighter and a fighter: triangular in shape and flat towards the nose with foldable wings on the from few scratches on the sides, the hull was almost spotless. It was painted mainly in chrome with red and white stripes stretching over the wings.

"A fine ship you have, lady Weiss," Pyrrha noted, earning a slight smirk and a small puff of the chest from Weiss. "We're gonna have to search it, I'm afraid."

"Very well," Weiss handed her Scroll to Pyrrha who then quickly dove into the cargo hold with Nora in tow while Weiss turned to Jaune.

"I would like to visit the market and then the Academy, as quickly as possible."

"Ok. Go straight down the corridor, then take a left turn and proceed towards an elevator," Jaune pointed at single hallway leading out of the hangar. "The market is on level 2, and the Academy is on level 5."

Weiss received her Scroll back from Pyrrha who gave Jaune thumbs-up.

"I'll be off then."

With a curt nod, Weiss made her way down the corridor and took the elevator.

* * *

The market place was structured as a town square, moderately sized for a station as big as this one. It had several hallways leading in all the directions: towards residential areas, sparring and shooting ranges. In the side wall were three large windows, letting in the natural light from the moon to illuminate the market. There were dozens of stands and small shops of all categories. Weapon and ship parts, essentials, armor, Dust canisters and crystals, you name it. The place reminded her of old temples on Solitas albeit with metal plating instead of dark granite of the ruins.

For all the selection, Weiss was on the lookout for two particular things. Spotting one of them, she made her way towards a shop on the far side of the "square."

The shop was a medium-sized wooden-clad with additional space. Wooden exterior wasn't common in this day and age but it did give off that old, cozy atmosphere.

Weiss shifted her gaze up, on the screen above the door that read: "Silver Wiring," and rolled her eyes,"Is that supposed be a pun?"

The white-haired girl carefully stepped inside. At first glance, the shop appeared a lot more spacious on the inside than the appearance let on. To her surprise, the shop wasn't wooden just on the outside but on the inside as well, which is rather risky when working with welding, soldering and technology with high energy output. The sound of soft solo guitar strings played in the room. There were three workbenches behind the counter, all filled with different things and labels on top. One of them was labeled "repair," the second one was named "construct," the last one was: "unique/new."

The counter had two chairs and there was a small bar with shelves of different drinks, from alcoholic to the likes of tea leaves and coffee beans with a small machine standing in the corner, most likely a boiler.

Weiss pressed on the buzz button on the counter and heard a faint "Just a second!"

Not long after, a blond man dressed in an apron and a simple t-shirt came out of the backroom with a small box of fuses and what looked like trigger hammers. He sported a small stubble and even smaller tuft of facial hair under his lower lip.

"Good evening, miss! I'm Taiyang Xiao Long," the man introduced himself. "What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Mr. Xiao Long," Weiss offered a small nod. "I'd like to purchase an energy gate, modulation circuit and a good Hard-Light Dust battery."

"Well, we have energy gates and modulation circuits," Taiyang slowly scratched his stubble. "But we're currently out of H/L D. batteries."

"Is there any other establishment in here that has them?"

The man scratched his chin and hummed, "Not likely, this kind of Dust has been scarce lately, the mines of Mantle Prime had an accident and the whole thing collapsed in on itself."

While explaining the situation, Taiyang noticed Weiss taking a seat with a slow exhale. Of course, Weiss didn't dare to hope Vale station had everything she wanted, but being right was not pleasant all the same.

"Do other stations have them?"

"Probably Atlas station, if not them, maybe Vacuo station."

Weiss hummed in response, lost in thought. Taiyang turned and ducked under the counter, searching for requested parts. Once he found the suitable picks, he popped back up and set them on the counter.

"… Can I offer you a drink?" The man gestured to the shelves. "Travelling is not the easiest part of the job."

"Not the easiest?" The girl raised an eyebrow. "Pray tell why?"

"It's boring," Taiyang shrugged. "Sometimes it seems the same."

"You're running a store on a station in the middle of nowhere," Weiss deadpanned.

"Fair enough, but I have a family," Taiyang explained. "Can't exactly get up and go somewhere without winding them up. Plus there are a lot of unsavory types of people."

He then lifted a mug and a glass, raising his eyebrows questioningly. Weiss considered just paying and leaving, but seeing how the journey to the next station is going to be rather long, she simply replied: "Coffee, black."

"Got it," Taiyang quickly started brewing the drink. "Reminds me, may I ask your name, my lady?"

"Weiss.. Weiss Schnee."

The man's eyes twitched ever so slightly but he continued to brew the drink, "Well how 'bout that..?"

Weiss observed the man quickly but carefully work the magic: wielding the sieve and starting to grind up the coffee beans into fine powder. He then turned on the boiler to heat up the water.

"I know it'll sound very obvious but you're quite good at preparing drinks, coffee at least," Weiss voiced her thoughts, earning a small, fond grunt.

"That's 'cause my daughters drink coffee all the time," Taiyang said with a small smirk, while pouring the powder into the Turka and stirring it. "My oldest, Yang, drinks more or less classic. But my youngest, Ruby is a completely different story."

Once the brown-colored foam formed on top, Taiyang slowly poured the coffee through the sieve into a mug and outstretched it to the girl. Weiss accepted the drink and started slowly sipping, mindful of the heat. The balance was perfect, not too sour nor too bitter.

"This is great," Weiss commented and inquired. "If you don't mind me asking, what sort of beans do you use?"

"My own," the man proudly replied. "I have a small greenhouse at home. I grow them there."

"Oh my," the white-haired girl murmured as the man took his own seat and poured himself some as well. "It has to be difficult."

"Eh, nothing few more UV lamps, good humidity and a heater won't fix."

For some time, the pair simply sat, listening to the soft tune carrying through the speakers.

"Where… where are you daughters?" Weiss awkwardly broke the silence. "If you don't mind me asking?"

"Out, up there in the Academy," came a simple response. "They're training to be Huntresses, or bounty hunters. Depends on who you ask."

"Huntresses?"

"Yeah," the man looked up. "Weird, right?"

"Why weird?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Huntresses and Huntsmen are a thing of the past, dear." Taiyang simply stared at the young girl. "Once they had a noble goal. But with time, everything changes, it always does."

"What changed?"

"They became too embroiled in politics and military counseling," the man gazed at her, no, almost through her, clearly lost in thought. Not long after, he continued. "I was a Huntsman once."

The girl slightly jerked her eyes up to a tattoo on his arm and motioned him to continue.

"In our days, "Huntsman" was a bounty hunting profession more than anything else."

"I see."

"We hunted criminals, terrorists, animals that have gone too far outside their own territory."

"What about Grimm?" Weiss blurted out, then immediately added. "Are the stories about them true?"

Taiyang's eyes widened slightly at the question and he nodded. "To a big extent but not fully."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Nowadays, the Creatures of Grimm are so rare that many don't even believe they exist," the blond man replied. "Plus there are too many stereotypes, about them sensing negativity from planets away and such."

"Do they sense negativity?"

"They do, but not nearly as those almost legendary stereotypes tell."

"Huntsmen initially hunted them, correct? Not too long ago?" Weiss inquired further, and Taiyang noted that curiosity. "What happened to the Grimm?"

"One day, most of them just disappeared," he made a 'poof' hand gesture in the air. "As if some magical black hole opened up and sucked them in."

The man took a moment to recollect that moment, "I was only 19 when that happened. I was finishing training, I'm 39 now."

"So it's been around 20 years since they disappeared?" Weiss shifted slightly on her side, propping herself against the counter while intently staring into her coffee.

"Mhm."

As they continued to drink, Taiyang told Weiss how since the "Disappearance," Huntsmen corps shifted their priorities towards jobs in governments. First it was bodyguard duties, pest control and the likes. Later though, the norms became the assassinations of problematic political party leaders or members, infiltrations in dangerous groups of people, sabotage of transports, framing. Weiss slowly started to understand why Taiyang was rather skeptical of his daughters training to be Huntresses.

"Why don't you dissuade them?"

"A fair question. I tried," the man sighed as he finished his drink and smiled. "They have hereditary stubbornness."

Weiss pulled out her Scroll to transfer the Lien for the purchase and then looked at time.

"Oh, it's almost 12 PM," the girl sighed and put the device back. "I was supposed to visit the Academy as well."

Weiss stood up and placed the chair back in its place as the owner did the same. They placed their mugs into small box with some other kitchenware. The girl packed all the parts and went to the door.

"Hold on a second!" she heard, glancing back she saw Taiyang quickly gather his clothes, switch everything off and make his way to the door. Once he closed and locked the door via electromagnetic lock, the blond man turned to Weiss.

He outstretched his arm towards the young girl, "I'll make some calls, see if I can get those L/H D. batteries by tomorrow's evening."

Weiss carefully took his arm and shook it, giving him an appreciative smile, "Thank you Mr. Xiao Long."

He placed his arm on the girl's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Anytime, miss Schnee."

* * *

Once the exchange was over, the pair went the opposite ways: Taiyang towards the residential area and Weiss, towards the elevator. On her way, the girl looked into the side-wall window to see vast emptiness with a tint of moonlight reflecting off the glassy surface. Weiss stopped and leaned over the railing, simply watching, thinking.

Deep in thoughts, the alabaster-haired girl didn't hear the ding of the elevator and frantic footsteps, approaching with alarming speed. Suddenly, she felt something slam into her side at very high velocity, nearly throwing and sending her fly off the ledge.

"What in the hell?!" Weiss yelled out as she clutched her heart with one arm along with parts, and the railing with the other. When she looked down, she saw a young girl with short hair so dark-red it was almost black if not for lighter highlights on the tips. The klutz sported a red scarf that reached down her lower back and wore a short-sleeved hoodie.

She was clutching her head, muttering "Ow, who put a pole in here?" And then she looked up and saw Weiss, "Oh, hi! I, uh… I'msorryIdidn'tseeyouthere-"

Weiss quickly leaned down and put her hand on the girl's mouth, hissing, "Shut it, you've already scared me half to death, don't give me a migraine too!"

The girl frantically nodded and tried to stand up.

Few moments later, when general blood pressure and adrenaline simmered down, Weiss grabbed the smaller girl's hand and jerked her upwards, placing firmly on her own two feet.

"Be careful next time, in this area you might actually kill someone like that," the white-haired girl admonished and turned back to the elevator.

She heard behind her. "I'll make it up to you!"

"Oh I doubt that very much," with that, Weiss went into the elevator, closing the doors behind her.

Few minutes later, the girl was quickly walking towards her ship. Opening the ramp and closing it once inside, Weiss made her way to her living quarters: a small, somewhat empty looking room with a desk in the corner and a bunk bed.

Sighing, she put the details on the table, shook off her tunic and took off the pants with the belt and knee-high boots, leaving her in small shorts and a black tank top. She then let her hair loose from a ponytail.

Once done with this ordeal, Weiss took a seat next to the desk and turned on a small lamp, she unstrapped the hilt from the belt and started taking it apart.

Putting the case on the table, she proceeded until she saw the main circuitry. The inside of the hilt was a mess of little wires, Gravity Dust-lined walls for upward propulsion out of the hilt's upper exhaust.

Opening up the top drawer and rummaging inside a bit until she found small forceps. With them, Weiss picked up the energy gate and carefully placed it at the root of the circuitry.

Turning back to the drawer and fishing out few tiny screws and a soldering iron, Weiss began constructing.

Securing the gate via screws and bit of soldering, she turned her attention to energy modulation circuit. Repeating the previous process, Weiss then fished out small wires from lower drawer and hooked the parts together.

Putting everything back together and securing the case back into place, Weiss took the hilt in her hand, above the desk, just in case.

"All right," Weiss thought as she flipped the switch, causing the hilt to hum and shake ever so slightly. "One last fragment left."

* * *

Side notes:

ISC – Independent Space Craft.

"Turka" is Turkish kitchen ware for brewing coffee.


	2. Chapter 2

_The smoke and fires burned her lungs, grime and blood clouded her vision._

" _ **-eiss, run!"**_

_She heard them yell. She didn't understand half of it._

" _ **But-… -about you?!"**_

_She wouldn't leave them here._

" _ **We'll be fine, go!"**_

_She wanted to believe them. She didn't budge._

" _ **I will not leave you here!"**_

_She won't._

_**"Go-"** _

_She felt being thrown by a shockwave._

" _ **-inter! Fathe-"**_

_Were the last things she remembered shouting, before the entrance collapsed, she remembered a rock landing on her head, smashing into her skull._

* * *

With painfully slow pace, Weiss opened her eyes and rose from the bed, settling for a sitting position. She looked out into corridor, noting that there was a pillar of light too bright to be from a light lamps.

Uttering a small grunt, the girl stood up and momentarily froze, massaging her scar over the eye and temple on the left side of the head. Once the light migraine passed, she picked up her Scroll to look up the time. The screen glared at her with numbers _**"9AM."**_

"Damn it all to hell," she muttered and went to the bathroom.

As she walked out into the hallway, she saw a bright wave of light illuminating through the cockpit's windows the hangar was glistening and reflecting like a fantasy land.

_"The sun, huh?"_

The sunlight was going through the entrance, the hangar didn't have huge blast doors, rather it had deflector shields. Weiss got into the bathroom, turning on the water in the shower and quickly getting in.

After ten minutes in the shower the girl stood in front of a big mirror. Checking out her left eye and brushing her teeth, Weiss went to her room and pulled her pants back on, put on her tunic, straightening her hair and clasping her belt.

Making her way down into cargo hold, she took a few precious artifacts, (two of which were books, real physical books) she found back on Solitas and put them into small backpack. She'll have to pay the fee and then sell those to anyone interested and get to the Academy.

Closing the ramp behind her, Weiss made her way towards the post of security where she was met with a familiar red-head.

* * *

"Hello, lady Weiss," Pyrrha Nikos nodded. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I've come to pay the fee for yesterday and today," Weiss nodded back.

"Ah, very well. Wait just a minute please, I'll pull up the sheet," Pyrrha dove typed on the Light-Hard keyboard and pulled up a holographic display.

"Hmm, let's see: housing," the guard counted. "That'll be around 1000 Lien for 2 days of housing."

Pyrrha then switched the image on the glassy surface of the window into a code that could be scanned. Weiss pulled out her Scroll and swiped it across the image.

A quiet 'ding' could be heard from both the terminal and the Scroll.

"Transfer complete," Pyrrha said. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No. Thank you," Weiss replied, walking off towards the elevator. "I'll see you around."

* * *

The market was much more lively in the morning, Weiss slowly strode between stores avoiding any collisions with other people while keeping an eye for any antique shops.

When scanning the rows of stands, she noticed a certain blond man, Mr. Xiao Long, slowly walking through the crowd.

He was dressed in a sleeveless jacket and long shorts. Once he noticed Weiss and her gaze on him, he smiled, nodded and showed a "calling" hand sign. The girl gave him a slight tip of the head and went on her way. Some time later, after grueling and eventually unsuccessful trip through multiple shops, the girl stopped by small café and ordered a small salad and grape juice.

"Well, so far nothing," Weiss grumbled while poking her salad. _"You'd think a station this old would have at least few people owning stores of old rarities."_

As she kept eating, she noticed a young woman, sitting on the opposite side of café. Jet-black hair, golden eyes. The girl wore a white hoodie with black leggings and was absentmindedly drinking out of a cup while reading a… book? Real, honest to gods book.

Weiss quickly shook off those thoughts and went back to eating. Still her gaze shifted to the black-haired girl from time to time, noting the state of the book: it was very old, if faded color is anything to go by, it was painted red at one point. The middle of the book was withered but still held.

Then she noticed the label hanging on the corner of the cover. Weiss snapped a picture of the label and scanned it.

 _"Beacon Academy, Library of Dr. Oobleck,"_ Weiss hummed and closed the Scroll. "Well I needed to go to the Academy regardless, so might as well skip this part."

Weiss quickly finished her salad, gathered her backpack and moved toward the black-haired girl.

As she approached Weiss couldn't help but admire the muscles on the girl's neck and legs. On closer inspections, she noticed that the girl had cat ears. Once within 2 meter radius, Weiss softly cleared her throat, attracting the girl's attention. Gold eyes snapped to meet her own.

"Excuse me for interrupting," Weiss began. "Are you student in Beacon Academy?"

"… Yes," the girl narrowed her eyes slightly with a voice lower than Weiss expected. "Who's asking?"

"No one in particular. I was simply wondering if you could lead me to Academy's library? I have few old books I found on my journey."

Weiss opened her backpack and without pulling two books out, showed it to the girl. Black-haired beauty watched and closed her own book. The girl hummed, finished her drink in one gulp and stood up, motioning Weiss to follow her. Once they left the café and walked back into rows of shops, they turned towards the elevator.

* * *

"Pardon me," the white-haired woman began. "What is your name? I believe it'll be more comfortable for both us if we knew each other's names."

The girl slowed down and tilted her head in thought then turned, "Blake."

"Weiss," Weiss nodded and followed Blake until they got to elevator.

Punching the "Level 5" button, Blake leaned against the wall while Weiss simply crossed her arms. Once the elevator reached its destination, the pair walked out and Weiss was greeted by a place very similar to that of High Temple on Solitas: three towers placed in triangle with highest tower being the farthest and in the center and the central tower sticking out of deflector shield's area of effect.

There was enough vegetation and trees despite being on a space station. The courtyard consisted of several pathways and was surrounded by something akin to lawn.

"This way… Weiss," Blake tested out her name on the tongue and beckoned the white-haired woman before starting to walk towards the tower on the left.

"All right," Weiss quickly followed.

They didn't talk while walking but Weiss caught Blake stealing glances at her every now and then. In two minutes the white and black pair was standing in front of main entrance to the "Left" tower.

Blake opened the doors and held them as Weiss walked in, nodding her thanks. Inside of the tower was just as impressive as the outside: dark brown wooden floor, marble walls along with pillars and ceiling with red accents running across.

The black-haired girl slightly nudged her and pushed towards a row of doors. Once they've reached one of them, Blake knocked and stepped in for a few moments then popped back and tilted her head to Weiss, motioning to come in. As they both stepped in, they stopped in front of a desk near the aforementioned doors, where the librarian would usually sit, and waited.

While nothing to do, Weiss observed the library. It felt almost 3D-printed, most of furniture was pure white and coated in matt paint as to not reflect light and irritate eyes of the readers. Few of the shelves held actual physical books but the tables had computer systems.

What was even more strange is how little people there were, despite the classes being rather long, the breaks were also substantial. Plus different schedules depending on the year is a thing.

"Y-yes. Just a moment," came a low timid voice.

The owner of the voice stepped out from behind the nearby shelves and revealed herself to be a young Faunus girl with long brown hair and rabbit ears.

"Hey, Velvet," Blake waved and pointed at Weiss. "This is Weiss, she wants to see if you or Beacon would be interested in few old books she found during her travels."

Velvet's ears twitched and she looked quizzically at the white-haired girl who, in turn, took off her backpack, rummaged inside, fished out two books tied together and placed them on the desk.

The Faunus carefully untied them and put them cover up, the tomes looked new, as if they were made a year ago and read: "Solitas Chronicles, parts I and II."

Velvet opened first book and looked at the prologue: "Written during the tail end of the Great War."

"Interesting… Those books look almost fresh despite being allegedly written almost two hundred years ago…"

The statement caused Blake to lean in and inspect the books closer, Weiss simply stood with arms crossed and waited for a verdict. The pair started going through pages and throwing around theories of the technique used to preserve these books.

Then Velvet glanced up and asked, "Where did you find them?"

"The temple ruins," Weiss gave a short answer.

Velvet nodded and tapped her chin. She closed the books and placed first tome on top of the second one. The rabbit Faunus then turned to Weiss.

"I, uh… I'll have to file a request form to allow these books to be scanned into digital versions and place the originals onto specific shelf," Velvet picked up her Scroll, took pictures of the books and sent them to the terminal on the desk.

"How long will it take?" Weiss asked.

"Hm, usually takes from few hours to couple of days," the response earned a slight groan.

"I'll have to leave either today evening or tomorrow," Weiss slightly sagged. Blake walked up to her and slightly nudged her. Somehow that made the girl feel a bit more at ease.

Weiss blinked a couple of times and decided, "I'll stick around campus, if I may?"

"You're not really allowed to be here," Blake said.

"Even if I'm with either of you?"

Faunus girls looked at each other, mulling over the suggestion. Eventually Blake looked at Velvet who simply shrugged and sat down behind the desk. The black-haired girl looked at her Scroll and with a quiet "Oh shit," ushered Weiss out of the library.

As the two girls made their way out of the tower, Weiss looked into "ceiling" of the level, a deflector shield that would let in a bit of natural light but otherwise opened a window into deep space.

Her stargazing was interrupted by Blake clearing her throat, "I have a class in ten minutes and it'll last 40 minutes, you sure you wanna hang around for that long?"

Weiss thought for a second, "No, but I can wait in that café we've met at."

Blake nodded and scurried off in the direction of the "Right" tower. The white-haired girl stayed for another minute, simply watching the stars slowly drift and rays of light shift. A yelp tore her from her musings and she noticed a familiar red-head girl with a scarf running with all of her might. Right behind her was another, much taller and bigger girl, with wild blonde main.

The blonde was dressed in a brown-ish jacket with small sleeves and a skirt over shorts with a pair of leggings and sported a cybernetic hand prosthetic.

The pair ran straight past her and towards the Right tower and just before Weiss could go on her merry way, she heard a gasp and a "Oh hey!" from the shorter girl.

As the white-haired girl turned around, Weiss saw the girl quickly checking her pockets and pulling out a card of sorts.

"You're the girl I ran into yesterday!" The redhead looked at the card. "V- We- Weiss, yeah?"

Rolling her eyes, Weiss nodded.

"I have a message from my dad, uh, Taiyang Xiao Lo- hrk…" The klutz exclaimed as her companion grabbed her by the scarf.

"Come on Ruby, we're late as is, Goodwitch will tear us a new one," the blonde turned to Weiss with a slight narrowing of the eyes. "Hey so uh, maybe we'll meet up later?"

"All right. I'm going to the café at the North end of the market," with that Weiss turned around, catching a glimpse of the blonde giving her a thumbs-up and dragging Ruby away who yelled "Yang, quit!"

* * *

Checking the time on her Scroll while staring out the window and drumming her fingers on the rim of her cup, _**"11:25AM,"**_ Weiss slowly exhaled.

" _Blake should be here any minute now, those two girls as well,"_ she thought. _"So they're Mr. Xiao Long's daughters? They don't look all that similar. Not blood-related, perhaps?"_

A severed leg in dark blue pants flashed in her mind. Weiss felt a slight lump forming in her throat but she swallowed it, along with half of a cup of coffee. Once the fit has passed, Weiss noticed three people approaching the café. A black-haired girl, a redhead and a blonde. She put on her best business face and patiently waited for them to enter.

As soon as they did, Ruby – the klutz immediately went ahead and took a seat next to Weiss, earning a small scowl and a raised eyebrow. Blake and Yang took seats on the opposite side of the table.

"So, heard you were acting rudely to my lil' sis-," Yang began and immediately got an elbow to the ribs and a stare.

"Ow Blake, chill," the blonde pushed Blake's hand back and rubbed her side.

Blake shifted her gaze back to Weiss and noted that the white-haired girl's eyes looked were slightly watery.

"Are you alright, Weiss?"

"I am. Why are you asking?"

"No reason," Blake deflected as Weiss stared her down.

Deciding to quickly shift the conversation, Ruby pulled out the card she had earlier.

"Oh, right! Uh, dad asked me to give it to you," and handed the card to Weiss. The white-haired girl read the message on the backside.

_"Found what you needed, it'll be here by tomorrow morning."_

Weiss sighed and pocketed the card, _"Great."_

Meanwhile, Yang put her chin on her hand and eyed the white-haired girl in front of her. Fair skin, silky hair, piercing blue eyes with a scar over the left one. Definitely pretty.

Not wasting any time, Yang outstretched her metallic arm to Weiss, a motion that caused Blake's eye shift to the side and her ears to twitch, "Yang Xiao Long, pleasure to meet ya."

Weiss took it and shook as firmly as possible, her gaze shifted to the right. Ruby fidgeted like she was sitting on pin cushion.

"And I'm Ruby Rose, we've already met but uh… you know," as she outstretched her hand which Weiss still shook despite the awkwardness.

The girl turned to Blake, "How's the progress on the request form?"

"Unknown. We didn't get the chance to talk," Blake pulled out her Scroll and excused herself, she dialed Velvet, hoping to get an answer.

"So… Weiss… how long are you planning on staying on our humble station?" Inquired Yang. "Clearly you're here on some business but if it was super important you'd be gone by now."

Weiss hummed and replied, "I'm planning on staying at least two more days, I need to sell all the cargo I have, as well as buy fuel and repair something."

Weiss's eyes flicked briefly to Ruby's, implying she knew that the klutz most likely read the message on the card. The girl giggled awkwardly. Yang ruffled her sister's hair. Weiss reached to the menu and ordered another coffee, all the while observing the eldest sister: if Blake's muscles were prominent in her legs, Yang's were clearly her arms and shoulders, implying physical prowess far above average.

"So, you're two sisters?" Weiss inquired while sipping her coffee.

"Yeah, half-sisters to be more precise," Yang shrugged and ordered a Strawberry Sunrise with ice.

"Different mothers," Ruby finished for her and ordered a glass of warm milk.

Weiss hummed. Blake returned and sat down, "Velvet's request got through but there's a condition."

"Which is?"

"Headmaster Ozpin wants to meet you in person," Blake explained to Weiss, whose impression didn't really change aside from one raised eyebrow.

"Okay. Anything I should be concerned about?"

"Oz is a bit… eccentric," Blake clarified and got a snort from Yang.

"What she means is, he's a weirdo," the blonde grinned. "Not the bad kind of weirdo, though."

"Yeah, he even let me in two years sooner!" Ruby piped.

"How old are you? All of you?" Weiss inquired.

"I'm 18," Yang replied.

"Also 18," came Blake's answer.

"And I'm 16!"

Weiss stared at Ruby and came to a conclusion that yes, Ozpin might be indeed, a weirdo. Their orders arrived and everyone was silent for good 10 seconds because Blake spoke up.

"Anyways, it's nothing bad I'm certain, he just has that air about him," Blake continued. "He'll most likely want to question you about how you came to possess those books or why you decided to leave them here."

Blake shrugged as Yang and Ruby enjoyed their drinks while Weiss watched through the window.

Blake checked the time, "God damn it, guys we need to go, Port's class is starting in 15 minutes." The girl turned to Weiss.

"If it's no bother, you can visit Headmaster right now, while everyone's busy in classes."

The sisters groaned and got up, before they left Ruby told Weiss to visit their father later that day, and waved goodbye. Weiss nodded and finished her coffee, getting up and leaving for Level 5.

* * *

Several minutes later, Weiss was in front of the three Towers. She noticed a woman with long black hair thrown over the shoulder, orange eyes and dressed in blood-red tunic with yellow highlights, confidently walking towards her.

"Good day to you, miss," the woman tipped her head. "Cinder Fall, professor of Dust Technology And Applications. Are you here to meet the Headmaster?"

"Yes," Weiss gave a bow of her own. "Is his office at the top of the Central Tower?"

"Indeed, it's on 6th floor," Cinder pointed towards the top of the building then towards the entrance. With that, she bid farewell and headed towards the Right tower.

Weiss had gone into the tower, the inside of it didn't look as comforting as the outside suggested: aside from few chairs and benches there were terminals with an enormous pillar in the center, suggesting the floor was used as a communication center for students and employees alike. Everything was bathed in green-ish lighting.

Weiss moved to the elevator, punching the 6th floor button.

Once at the top, the girl stepped out of elevator into a hallway filled with small pedestals that held several ancient relics, all lit with same green lamps. She heard footsteps beside her and noticed a blonde woman with a black sash wrapped around her shoulders, walking out of one of doors located on the sides on the corridor.

"Ah, lady Weiss I presume?" the woman questioned, earning a small nod. "Glynda Goodwitch, the Headmaster is ready to see you."

With that, the woman led Weiss to two big, white doors and pocked her head in, "Ozpin, the girl miss Scarlatina mentioned is here."

Glynda tilted her head, motioning to come in and left without another word. Weiss lifted her chin up and stepped in. What immediately stood out about Ozpin's office is how messy it was, all kinds of machinery filled different tables and there amidst it all, sat a man with white hair illuminated by sunlight, making him look like a deity. He was dressed in a rather old-fashioned suit with a small scarf, all colored green, again.

"Ah yes," the man behind the clockwork-littered desk immediately stood up and closed the distance in the matter of seconds causing Weiss to take a small step back.

"So you're the one lady Velvet has told me about?" Ozpin questioned despite clearly knowing the answer.

"Yes, I was informed that you wanted to speak with me, sir," Weiss slowly answered, causing Ozpin to bristle slightly.

"Please, no need for such formalities, simple courtesy will be more than sufficient."

"Very well then, Mr. Ozpin."

The man mysteriously pulled out a mug behind his back and offered it to Weiss, "Hot chocolate?"

"No thank you," Weiss declined and Ozpin led her to his desk.

Once he pulled up an additional chair and took a seat in his own, the man began.

"So, what brings you here of all places, my lady?"

"I'm a merchant, I travel all kinds of places."

"Hmm," the man hummed. "Is that _all_ you do?"

"Pardon?" Weiss slightly squinted at the prodding while Ozpin poured hot chocolate into the mug.

"Oh don't misunderstand, my lady. It's simply unusual for someone to drop off a couple of two centuries old pieces of literature in here."

The white-haired man leaned closer, "I'd appreciate it if you were honest with me, my lady."

"I came to the market to sell those books initially but couldn't find any stores that specialized in that sort of thing."

"Indeed, not many people have an appreciation to the roots of their technology," Ozpin took a good swing and with a content sigh motioned Weiss to continue.

"There's not much to tell, to be quite frank," the girl shrugged. "Then I met one of your students and noticed her reading a book that came from your library-"

"Miss Belladonna."

"-…Yes."

"My lady, I must ask you," Ozpin put the mug on the desk. "How come you came to possess these tomes?"

"I found them," Weiss shrugged and at the man's inquiring eyebrow clarified. "At the ruins of Solitas's High Temple. Found them in a small box inside the statue of the Winter Maiden."

The Headmaster scratched his chin, "Interesting, legends say the Winter Maiden was the one who froze Solitas over, quite ironic that historical records were hidden inside her statue."

"Yes, but that's not relevant to our conversation."

"Indeed. So, my lady, what do you want for this find?"

"Not much, some Lien to cover housing will be adequate," Weiss honestly didn't need the Lien for these books in particular since she had more cargo to sell and that would be enough and then some.

"Very well," Ozpin pulled up his terminal display. "How does 15 000 Lien sound?"

Weiss felt her jaw slacken, "No Headmaster, I cannot take so much!"

"Nonsence, those tomes are a part of long forgotten history of one of core worlds, they're priceless if I do say so myself."

"… Still, that seems to be overdoing it," Weiss muttered. "I'll take 10 000, not a Lien more."

"Understood, my lady," Ozpin typed and authorized the transfer. "It's done."

"Thank you, Mr. Ozpin."

"No lady Weiss, thank _you_ for bringing such a gift to a place where it will be safe."

With that, Ozpin stood up and walked up to Weiss with outstretched arm for handshake, Weiss gently grasped it and the man shook hers with both hands. A gesture that seemed way too grateful for delivering a few old books.

"I know it is likely that you don't want to advertise this… but," Headmaster leaned in and patted the girl on the shoulder. "I'm truly sorry for what happened to your family."

Weiss stiffened up for a second but relaxed, not pegging Headmaster for someone to give out secrets, "Thank you, Mr. Ozpin. You do not know how good it is to hear that."

"You're welcome, dear," the man warmly smiled and escorted Weiss to the doors. "I do hope we meet again."

"Farewell, Headmaster."

And with that, Weiss walked out the door and straight into the elevator.

On her way to the courtyard, the girl stopped by the library to make sure the books were all right and, after a short conversation with Velvet Scarlatina, exited the tower.


	3. Chapter 3

Professor Port's class has always been an odd mixture of "insightful" and "boring as all hell."

Blake sat paying only half-attention while Yang and Ruby were straight up napping as Port played a record of him battling a Blind Worm with live commentary.

Somewhere deep down, Blake understood that this wasn't just a trip down memory lane for the old Huntsman. No, it was a way of mourning the days when things were simpler for them. Only three Academies are left, Shade – because combat is in their culture, Alsius – because their station's military depended on them, and Beacon – because many here wished to redeem the title of Huntsmen.

The sound of a synth chime roused the girl from her musings and the sisters from their slumber. Once they've done taking assignments, the trio said their goodbyes to the professor and exited the classroom.

"Man I really dozed off there," Yang groaned cracking her back and neck.

"Saaame," Ruby stretched and fixed her scarf.

"You probably should _try_ and _stay_ awake, then," Blake commented.

"Says the girl who sneaks in smut novels on her Scroll to the class to pass time," Yang snarked (rather loudly) causing Blake to snap her head to the blonde with an embarrassed glare.

"What? It's true."

"Sis, quit it, she's gonna shrink into herself and create a black hole," Ruby snickered and received a slap on the head. "Ow. Deserved that."

Clearing her throat, Blake suggested, "You guys go home, I'll check in with Velvet."

"I mean, sure, not like we've got anything better to do," Yang agreed.

Exchanging goodbyes, the black-haired girl went on her way.

* * *

Entering the library Blake silently slid towards Velvet's desk, the rabbit Faunus's ears twitched and the girl looked up from her read.

"Oh, hey Blake," Velvet greeted. "What's up?"

"Not much, came to check in about that book deal," Blake explained as she took a chair, placing it on the opposite side of the table and taking a seat.

She then noticed that Velvet is reading the first tome of Solitas Chronicles, "Is it any good?"

"Y- yes, quite good in fact," Velvet shyly commented, caressing the cover. "It was written by a priest at one of the temples and a scientist so there are two points of views on same things."

Blake hummed, "So I take it the deal worked out?"

"Mhm, the Headmaster met with Weiss and proposed a rather ridiculous amount of Lien for these: around 15 000."

Blake's eyes widened to a size of dishes.

"Weiss however, cut that reward down to 10 000 and was rather adamant about it staying that way," Velvet finished.

Blake let out a low whistle, "That's noble of her."

"I know. An honest merchant! Not a regular thing."

"Where is she now?" Blake asked.

"Oh, in the courtyard, says she likes to stare into space."

"Did Weiss tell you about the deal or was it Goodwitch and/or Ozpin?"

"The latter," a curt reply. "She did however come by, to make sure the books were in fine condition, and bid me farewell."

"I see," Blake stood up and placed the chair back. "I'll go see her. Take care."

Velvet nodded and immediately went back to reading. Blake exited the library as silently as she did coming in and went to the courtyard.

* * *

Courtyard was somewhat quiet, with most of classes over the students moved back home or to the dormitory.

With an even pace, Blake soon noticed the alabaster-haired girl sitting on the curb of the main road. Weiss sat in an unconventional position, with her legs tucked under and her hands in her lap. The girl's eyes were closed, her face was relaxed, serene. Like a weary angel. As if sensing her presence, Weiss's eyes opened to meet her own. There was a certain of murkiness in the girl's eyes.

 _"Maybe she was reminiscing something,"_ Blake thought.

"Ah, Blake," the girl slowly got up, dusting herself off. "What brings you here? I'm fairly certain the classes were over and students don't like to stick around campuses much."

"They were. I… honestly don't know why I came here," Blake admitted.

Weiss hummed and beckoned her to follow as she made her way to the lift, "Would you mind helping me to find suitable buyers for my cargo?"

"Depends on the cargo, if we're talking weapons then I'm not sure I can help," Blake fell in pace with the white-haired girl. "But if we're talking about Dust, then professor Fall and Junior Xiong would be interested, perhaps."

"Junior Xiong?"

"He owns a bar on Level 3, he can help distribute the Dust," Blake said. "Level 3 is mostly heavy duty industry-based. I'm sure they'll find a use for your cargo."

"Is it possible to see him right now?"

"Most likely."

"Very well then," Weiss concurred and both of them stepped into the elevator. "Lead the way."

* * *

Once they got out of the elevator, Weiss walked behind Blake to let her lead. Level 3 was a maze and consisted of approximately 10 rows of different small factories. Sparks and bits of metal, plastic and glass constantly flew by so the girls had to be careful as to not get hit by a molten piece of something.

"Junior's bar is at the end of 5th row, in a clear space, workers stop by there after work," Blake led as she navigated through the maze with Weiss following behind.

As they got to the end of the street, Blake noticed familiar twins wearing bodysuits with jackets over them. The black and white duo made their way towards them. One of the twins noticed their approach and gave a small wave to Blake.

"Hello Blake," the red-colored twin greeted. "Not often do we see you in these parts."

"Hey Miltia," Blake nodded then turned to the white-colored twin. "Hey Melanie."

"Hey," Melanie waved. She then turned her gaze to Weiss. "Who might that be?"

Blake turned to the girl in question with a slight smirk, "Weiss, this is Militia and Melanie Malachite, you can say they're Junior's bouncers."

"Gee, thanks," both girls snorted in unison.

"Anyways, is Junior home? Need to talk business with him."

"He is," the twins stated with Melanie speaking last. "Be quick though, it's gonna be end of the shift for many factory workers soon."

"'Kay," Blake touched the screen, sliding the door open and led Weiss inside.

The bar looked rather pleasant despite being in the middle of hazardous working place. Nice red and black tiles, dark brown walls, glass ceiling with white grate. The place wasn't packed nor was it empty, there were at least 10 people sitting at the tables scattered on the sides. A song, "The Pursuit of Knowledge" played through the speakers. A rather unique choice for such a low-key establishment.

The pair walked to the bar counter and were greeted by a bartender with grey hair and light brown eyes, "Good day, what can I do for you?"

"Hey, Mercury. Could you please call in Junior?" Blake asked. "We have a deal to make with him."

"Sure, he's in his office," the young man picked up his Scroll and typed a message. "In the meantime, is there anything you'd like to order?"

Weiss denied, "No thank you, I don't intend to drink until way after I settle a deal." Blake merely shrugged.

"Very well," Mercury nodded and went to the opposite side of the bar to attend to other customers. The pair silently sat for a few minutes before a rather large man came out of backroom. He wore a tuxedo with red-tinted sunglasses, sporting short, black hair and a stylish beard.

"Hey there, name's Junior," the man greeted and turned to Blake reaching out for her head, "Hey, haven't seen you in a while."

"Hey yourself." Blake, with slight smirk, pushed Junior's hand that tried to pat her on the head.

"So, heard you wanted to talk me into a deal?" The man turned back to Weiss.

"Indeed, I was wondering if you could perhaps purchase few crates of Dust of at least three types," Weiss started diplomatically, "Then, for your own benefit, sell them to the manufacturers on this level or the station as a whole."

"The price?" Junior took off his glasses, setting them in breast pocket and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm willing to sell them with a 20% discount," Weiss answered and under a questioning gaze, elaborated. "I'm rather honest when it comes to my deals and I don't see how raising the price will help my credibility."

"Hah! You sure are a curios one, my lady," Junior said with a booming laughter, taking a seat next to the pair and taking out his Scroll.

"I'm going to contact few customers of mine, see if they need Dust," the man explained. "Meanwhile, feel free to order something, we do have non-alcoholic drinks as well."

"Very well."

Blake beckoned the bartender and ordered a small cocktail, while Weiss refused, saying she would only do it if the deal was reached as a way of celebrating, Blake didn't really understand the point but didn't say anything.

As Junior kept making calls, humming and making a small talk, Weiss and Blake waited patiently, if a little awkwardly. Eventually, Junior slid back next to them.

"So, I have two factory directors here in need of Fire and Electricity Dust," the man began. "And one bathhouse owner that needs Fire and Water Dust."

"Hmm," the alabaster-haired girl skimmed through the list of cargo on her Scroll. "Got them all. How many crates are we talking about?"

"The first two need 2 crates of each type, the third one needs only one of each."

"Let's see," Weiss's eyebrows scrunched. "Standard price for a crate of Fire Dust is around 3000 Lien, Electricity is 5000 and Water is 6,500."

After quick calculating Weiss summed up, "16 000 Lien for the first order and 9,500 for the second one, take that and include a 20% discount, it'll be 12,800 and 7,600 Lien."

"20,400 Lien total," Blake chimed in. "So you'll buy them and sell them at the normal price which will be 23,600: you'll make your money back and gain another 3,200 on top."

Junior, after making calculations of his own, outstretched his hand and gave Weiss a handshake, "You got yourself a deal."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Xiong."

"Likewise, my lady," the man nodded and asked. "Do you mind if I take your Scroll? I need to add coordinates for cargo ships to deliver the merch."

The young woman gave him the device and Junior immediately got to work. Weiss turned to her companion who quietly sat and drank her cocktail. The girl decided to order a drink of her own.

Turning to Mercury, Weiss inquired, "Do you have anything light? I still have to go back to my ship."

"Of course, what would you like? Sweet or something slightly more sour?"

"More sour," Weiss's answer picked Blake's curiosity.

"Why sour?"

"Keeps me grounded," Blake raised an eyebrow but didn't question further.

The bartender mixed a rather unusual drink, akin to red tea but with mint, two balls of ice and just tiny bit of alcohol.

He handed the mix to Weiss, "Let me know how it tastes, feedback is always appreciated."

"Thank you," Weiss accepted it and took a sip, scrunching her brows a bit. "Hm, it certainly is sour but mint balances it out, alcohol is barely noticeable."

The girl then downed the whole glass in two gulps, "It's perfect."

"Great," with that Mercury excused himself and went into the backroom.

"You don't seem to be the "sweets" kind of person," Blake remarked.

"I don't dislike sweets, in fact they're rather decent supply of calories," Weiss replied and crossed her arms. "I just didn't make it into a habit of consuming them."

"Is that why you prefer coffee?"

"Indeed, although I don't dislike tea either," the white-haired woman turned to her companion. "What of you?"

"Me?" Blake pondered. "I drink tea most of the time, Yang's and Ruby's dad has many kinds of drinks in his shop."

"I've noticed," Weiss said and clarified. "We sat in his shop for quite a while yesterday."

"Oh?" Blake shifted closer. "And what do you think of him?"

"He's a great man, in my opinion," Weiss started. "Courteous but not overly so."

"Yes he is," Blake chuckled. "Although when it comes to training his kids, he's quite brutal, doesn't let up until the dorks learn their lesson and see it in their dreams."

"Curious, he didn't come off as such, then again, first impressions are tricky."

"Mhm."

Junior silently slid Weiss's Scroll back to her and cocked his head to it, motioning the girl to check everything. Weiss nodded and scanned the form, making sure everything was in order and passed the device back to him to transfer the Lien. Once they heard the quiet notification noise, the man bid his farewell and also went into the backroom.

"Now, what else is on the agenda..?" Weiss rhetorically asked and checked her Scroll. "Selling some more Dust would be ideal but I suppose it can wait until tomorrow."

Blake silently watched the young woman having conversation with herself. Weiss then stood up and moved towards the exit.

"We need to get to my ship so that the delivery team could get the cargo."

Blake quickly put the glass down and scurried after the girl.

* * *

Once they got out of the elevator, the pair walked up to the landing pad on which 'The Defiant' stood. Blake was rather impressed, not only the ship was in pristine condition but it had an array of weaponry, missiles and heavy machine guns.

"Impressive, I half-expected a yacht," Blake admitted and Weiss glanced up to her.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Nothing, just saying."

Weiss slightly squinted and quickened her pace. Blake felt as if she touched a nerve. Beside the ship stood few people with speeders and special carriers for crates.

"Ah, you're the owner of the cargo I presume?" one of the workers questioned. He was dressed in standard light duty vest of green color.

"I am," Weiss nodded. "You're here from Mr. Xiong, correct?"

"Yeah, we have order for 6 crates."

"Just a moment," Weiss pressed her Scroll to the panel next to the ramp and lowered it.

Inside, the woman quickly marked the appropriate crates. The man nodded in gratitude and got to work along with his crew. While the crew worked, Weiss stood with crossed arms and Blake quietly observed the cargo bay. It wasn't that big but it still could easily fit at least twenty people. On the far side was a ladder, likely leading to the main parts of ship, hallway with quarters and the cockpit.

"Well, we loaded it all, good day to you ladies," the man bowed, he and his crew led the carriers out of the ship, hooked them up to speeders and sped off towards a cargo lift.

"So, what's next?" Blake asked half-absentmindedly.

"Hm, I should probably go and pay for one more day of housing in advance. And then I'd like to visit Mr. Xiao Long."

"Okay."

* * *

After visiting Pyrrha at the security post and paying, the pair went to Level 2. Making their way to familiar wooden-clad shop, they went inside. Taiyang jumped from under the counter and walked up to them.

"Hello, lady Weiss!" the man patted said girl on the shoulder then turned and gave the black-haired one a crushing bear hug. "How are you, Blake my dear?"

"I'm fine, thank you Tai," Blake endured the hug and patted his hand in return. The man went behind the counter and took a seat.

"' _Tai?'_ " Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"I live with the Xiao Longs," Blake answered, earning a small 'Oh'.

"What brings you here, lady Weiss? Your order won't come until tomorrow. Doesn't mean I mind the company, though!"

"We had nothing else to do, so we decided to swing by," Blake sat down. "Where are the dummies?"

"Oh, they're at home, pretending to be studying," Tai laughed, starting brewing tea for Blake and coffee for Weiss.

"So, what were you doing today?"

Explaining and telling the man about their day, the pair then started to idly chat. As the time went on, Weiss began to relax, in spite of her pragmatic self. She glanced up the holographic clock that read " _ **9PM."**_

"Hm, it's time for me to go back to my ship."

"Your ship? You didn't rent a place here?" Tai asked incredulously.

"No need for it, I feel more comfortable on 'The Defiant,'" Weiss stiffly replied.

"Well that won't do at all!" Taiyang exclaimed. "How about you crash at our place and see for yourself if you want to stay?"

Both Blake and Weiss stared at the man, one in surprise, the other in apprehension. Tai then got their mugs and put them into the sink.

"It's just an offer, still I know it'll be good for you," Blake noticed something akin to sympathy in the man's eyes, the alabaster-haired girl also noticed it.

Biting her lip a little, Weiss carefully said, "All right. Although I'm not sure I'll be as nice as I am now. I'll need to chew out one of your daughters, she nearly threw me off the ledge."

"She what!?" Both Blake and Taiyang stared.

"An honest mistake I'm certain, still, a good scolding doesn't hurt anyone." Weiss waved off their question.

"Oh-kay, well, I'll slowly start closing up the shop and we'll go," Taiyang started hiding the tech under the counter, throwing covers over the workbenches.

When done, the man threw off his apron and washed his face and hands. He led the girls out and slid the door closed.

"Shall we be off then?" Taiyang gestured towards North-East hallway and the pair nodded.

* * *

The walk to the Xiao Longs was mostly quiet, with Weiss observing the surroundings and Blake in turn observing the girl herself. For some reason, Blake had an urge to get to know the white-haired girl closer. Turning around the corner, the trio was greeted by a view of a building, also built like Taiyang's shop though to not such extent: wooden panels were only covering about half of the exterior, the rest was dark metal.

Sliding the door open via his Scroll, the man led them inside. Inside was as cozy as it could get, to Blake it wasn't anything new, though Weiss seemed pretty impressed. There was a living room with kitchen to the left, the room had a big screen on the wall and a fairly big couch with additional chair. Behind the screen were the stairs, leading to the second floor.

"Girls, we're home!" Taiyang slightly raised his voice, taking off his shoes, Weiss and Blake doing the same.

'Hey dad! Welcome back!' was heard from upstairs. A second later, Ruby came down running, almost crashing into the man.

"Oh, uh… Hey Weiss, what's up?" Ruby sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"Hello Ruby," Weiss squinted a little at the girl. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Hey, no running down the stairs like that, young lady," Tai ruffled his daughter's hair.

"Yes sir!" Ruby gave him mock salute and smoothed out her hair.

Another moment after, Yang came down, wearing nothing but shorts and a shirt so tight, the cloth was deformed by two points on the woman's chest. Weiss had to glance to the side, causing Blake to smirk at the reaction.

"Hey dad, how did the day go?" Yang fist-bumped her father. She then turned to visitors. "Hey Blake! Oh, uh… Hello Weiss, didn't expect to see you here."

"Obviously," Weiss scowled a little with red tint on her face and nodded towards Yang's attire.

Yang followed her gaze and with a rather loud "Oh shit, sorry!" flew upstairs. Ruby cackled while Blake walked and sat on the couch. Taiyang went upstairs as well to get changed. Weiss awkwardly took a seat in the chair. Weiss stayed still for few moments, thinking back to Yang and her, admittedly attractive form. Daydreaming was interrupted by Blake's voice.

"Ruby, can you please get my notebook?" Blake asked as she pulled out her Scroll and opened a list of assignments.

"Sure, you got it," Ruby bolted upstairs and went back with an old slim book in hand. Handing it over to Blake, Ruby plopped down next to her and turned on the TV. Blake started jotting down certain sentences she saved on her screen, searching the topics in online web.

"So, uh, Weiss," Ruby cleared her throat. "I know I messed up yesterday, I was late off training and had some assignments I needed to do for today and I-"

"Stop."

Ruby's teeth clicked as she shut her mouth. Blake noticed Weiss shifting her weight to fully turn to Ruby.

"While not paying attention is dangerous and irresponsible, I say bygones are bygones," as Ruby opened her mouth. " _But._ You're not off the hook. Do pay attention next time, would you kindly?"

"Okay, you got it and I'm sorry again!"

"Apology accepted, now, do be quiet, your friend is trying to study."

Ruby held out her hand closed in a fist, expecting a fist-bump. Weiss eyed the gesture and carefully touched Ruby's knuckles with her own. Yang and her father walked down, Yang now wore a simple blouse with shorts that reached down her knees. Taiyang was dressed in a yellow t-shirt and sweatpants.

"We're gonna be in the kitchen, need to cook something up for tomorrow," Tai told them and tugged Yang along.

"Soooo, what is that part you ordered from dad?" Ruby asked, slumping against couch's back. Blake noticed that Weiss was frowning, looking nowhere in particular.

"Ruby, I don't think it's our place to ask." Blake tried to dissuade the younger girl from prying.

"Why? It's not like she's building a bomb," the ever oblivious to social norms girl said.

Weiss eyed both girls, receiving a questioning look and an apologetic one. With a sigh, she took the hilt off her belt and held in her hand.

"Whoooah, what's this," Ruby immediately tried to grab it to which she received a light slap on the hand. "Ow, okay, can I _please_ see it?"

With hesitation, Weiss handed the object to Ruby. The girl immediately started rotating it, looking onto every detail, port and curve. Blake noticed Weiss watching Ruby like a hawk, apparently that object was rather important to her.

"Can I take off the case?" Ruby's request made Weiss's eyes twitch. "Please please please?"

Blake jumped in, reassuring Weiss, "Don't worry, she's good with tech, probably the only thing she's good at, actually."

"Hey!"

With a sigh Weiss conceded, "Fine. Don't touch anything inside."

Ruby got up and went to the closet near kitchen, picking up a few millimeter wide screwdriver. The girl sat back down and slowly took off the case. Once she did, Ruby's eyes lit up like spotlights.

Before her was an intricate array of Gravity Dust-infused propulsion system, wires and reflecting plating along the entire length of the system to ensure that the energy won't break out and destroy the device from the inside.

"This is… so… cool!" Ruby was practically salivating as she examined the device. "Whoever built this should be given an award, like, heck this is incredible."

Blake noticed Weiss redden slightly and fidget with her sleeve, _"Her work, huh?"_

"Though the soldering part could use some work, the soldered points are bit too close to the case," Weiss glanced towards the hilt and gave a small nod.

"What is it, anyways? Doesn't seem like a conventional weapon or a tool," Ruby questioned.

"Family heirloom," Weiss curtly replied. Blake saw the deflection. Or maybe not deflection but it was clear to her that the girl didn't want the issue pressed.

"Really? Super complex for an heirloom."

"Ruby," Blake said with warning tone. "Stop interrogating her."

"Oh… ok," Ruby quickly put the case back in place and gave the object back.

Blake received a grateful nod. Yang popped her head out of kitchen and called everyone to have a dinner.

"Will you join us, Weiss?" Blake asked and received a shake of the head from the girl in question.

"No thank you, I'll stay here," Weiss replied and started browsing her Scroll.

Nodding, Blake entered the rather spacious kitchen with big dining table and took a seat next to Yang. Tai finished washing his hands and took a seat in the middle of the table, eyeing the youngest girl.

"Ruby," the man started. "Heard you almost knocked young Weiss over the ledge?"

"Y- yeah… but I apologized multiple times and we sorted things out!" Ruby quickly replied and started eating.

Taiyang looked at Blake with a raised eyebrow. The girl nodded, "Indeed. Weiss had also told her to pay more attention in such areas."

"Yeah like that's gonna happen," Yang snickered and started eating.

"I suppose Weiss doesn't wish to join us?" Tai asked and Blake shook her head. "I see."

"She's rather weird," Yang stated. "At times very stiff and lost but then she gains that air of confidence around her."

" **I heard that!"** they heard from the living room.

Yang sheepishly turned back to the room, "I didn't mean it in a bad way, sorry!"

" **Hmph."**

The other three laughed and continued their dinner. After finishing and putting the dishes in the sink. The three girls moved to the living room while Taiyang started washing the dishes.

"So, we need to address the question of placing, we have four rooms," Blake started. "And each is occupied."

"Where's the place she got?" Ruby asked. Blake glanced to the room, where Weiss sat, reading still.

"Doesn't have one," with hushed tone the girl said.

"Wait what?" both sisters turned to the black-haired girl.

"She said she feels more comfortable on her ship, so Tai invited her here, for whatever reason."

Yang hummed, "We could walk back with her if she doesn't wanna stay."

"I believe she's uncertain, she doesn't _seem_ to be eager to go."

"Hm, well then I'll let her crash in my room," Yang stated with a smile and received a dirty look from Blake. "I won't try anything I promise."

"You better not, from what we've seen, she's versed not only in trading but other things as well."

"And I won't let anyone in my sanctum," Ruby said and waved, heading to upstairs. "I'm out, goodnight."

Yang and Blake waved and entered the room, receiving a nod from their guest. Yang plopped down on the couch Blake silently sat down next to her.

"I'll start off this way," Yang began. "Weiss do you wanna hole up in here with us for the night?"

"You people are loud but I don't see why not," Weiss's answer came matter-of-factly. "The only problem is the room. Like you said."

Yang's and Blake's spine straightened and Weiss rolled her eyes, "Yes, I did hear you."

"I don't mind sleeping here, on the couch," Weiss then added. "Not the worst place to sleep in."

"I disagree," Blake said. "It's slanted, you'll fall off."

The girl went silent in thought, then slightly blushed and coughed, "I don't mind sharing a room with you, Yang. I'm sorry if I came off as standoff-ish, I didn't spend much time with people lately."

"Hey, I didn't mean to be rude," Yang quickly put her hands up. "It's just, you're one of the not-many folks here that act that way."

"Oh. I didn't have many pleasant meetings with people, many wanted to take advantage of my position."

The brunette and blonde exchanged glances and moved slightly closer to the girl.

"Well, now that's out of the way," Yang cleared her throat and stood up. Grinning, she bowed in not so elegant way. "May I invite you, lady Weiss, to my humble quarters to retire for the night?" Blake rolled her eyes, expecting the childish antic.

Weiss's eyes leveled with Yang's and she smirked, "Very well, you may."

"Are you sure Weiss?" Blake grinned. "Yang can be a handful, at the very least."

"I'm quite certain I can handle it, Blake, thank you," Weiss smiled and stood up, causing the other girls to do the same.

"Daaad! Can we get another blanket and a pillow?" Yang yelled towards the kitchen.

**"Sure! You can go to the room, I'll bring it to ya!"**

The trio made their way upstairs, Blake made her way towards the last room on the right, glancing back to the blonde and white-haired girl entering the room with Yang holding the door out for Weiss in an exaggerated manner. Blake smiled and went into her own room.

"So, this is my palace."

Yang spread her hands and walked up to the bed. Weiss observed the room: it wasn't as messy as she expected which was a bonus, there was a small table with a terminal on it, next to the window were bars for pull-ups set up near the ceiling. The bed was rather big but it wasn't a bed for two. Yang took the previous set of clothes she wore earlier: a small tight shirt and shorts. Weiss immediately turned around so that the woman could change. Noting her reaction Yang jumped at the opportunity.

"I'd say you can look all you want but I already made a promise," the blonde said with a smirk.

"W- what?!" Weiss's head twitched back towards the blonde who started laughing.

"Relax princess," Yang slowly stood up and walked up to the girl, leaning over and patting her on the shoulder. "I'd never do that, but if you're okay with it, I don't see a problem."

"Do you always jump at a chance to show off your body?"

"No. But it's fun teasing people about it,"

"I don't see the appeal in doing that," Weiss slowly turned around, keeping her eyes on Yang's face that could only be described as a shit-eating grin. As Weiss turned to the side, she rose her eyebrow. "Do you mind?"

"Hm? Oh! Yeah, of course," Yang quickly spun 180 degrees.

Weiss unhooked her belt and carefully set it down on the table, then started going through her attire, folding and putting her tunic and pants on the table as well. Undoing her ponytail, Weiss put the band on the desk as well.

She hesitantly turned around and crossed her arms, "I am done."

Yang looked back over her should and quietly whistled at the sight before her.

"Could you please not get even more inappropriate?" Weiss reddened.

"I'm sorry but you're quite the catch, I don't understand why you cover most of your body," Yang sat down on her bed. Weiss slowly took a seat next to her.

"A habit that runs in the family, I suppose."

"Ah."

A faint knock on the door could be heard from the door. Yang got up and opened, grabbing the requested things from her father, wishing goodnight and closing the door.

"I guess we'll have to make due with space we have, huh?"

"Indeed. I honestly am starting to doubt my decision," Weiss's musings caused Yang to slow down.

"Because of me? I'm sorry, I made you uncomfortable didn't I? You can bunk with Blake if you want?" Yang started to slowly back up before Weiss stopped her.

"No, no! It's all right, it's… somewhat freeing to spend time with people who do not concern themselves with appearances," Weiss awkwardly smiled.

"Oh… okay. I, uh, here," Yang shooed Weiss off the bed, threw off the covers and placed the additional blanket and a pillow. "Still don't know how we're gonna fit here and not kick each other off."

"We'll make do," Weiss replied and jerked her head to the bed.

Taking the hint, Yang crawled onto the bed, took her blanket and pulled it up to her chest. Scooting closer to the edge, Yang motioned the other girl to get in. Weiss slowly got on and covered herself with her own blanket. Finding positions they'd be comfortable in, the girls started slowly to drift off to sleep. Few seconds later, Weiss spoke.

"Yang?"

"Hm?"

"No touching," the blonde snickered.


	4. Chapter 4

" _ **How is she?"**_

" _ **Not great. The head took the most damage, she'll be in a coma for some time. Her ribcage took some serious beating . On brighter side, the lung injury is healing nicely… there will be scarring, of course."**_

" _ **Hmm. Some bright side this is."**_

_The voices were muffled but she recognized them instantly, Dr. Pollendina and Klein._

_Where is she? What happened? A coma? Because of what?_ _Where are Winter and Father? She can't move, can't talk._

_Everything is so dark, she can not move, she feels trapped._

* * *

Yang felt something bump into her abdomen. Opening her eyes, she noticed that her white-haired companion was twitching, her legs would jerk from time to time.

Weiss's face briefly contorted into something akin to distress.

The blonde quickly glanced at the holo-clock on her desk that read _**"8;45AM."**_

Carefully taking off her blanket, Yang moved closer and put her hand on Weiss's forearm, hoping that feeling of contact would calm the girl down.

It worked for the most part, the alabaster-haired girl stopped moving around but she was still grimacing ever so often.

Deciding to risk it, Yang slowly rubbed Weiss's arm, "Shh, you're okay, everything's fine."

Weiss then slowly pulled and pressed herself up against blonde's chest, presumably seeking warmth and comfort.

 _"Well, guess I'm stuck. Not complaining though,"_ Yang thought with a grin and carefully moved the girl's bangs.

Wrapping her hands around the smaller girl's frame, the blonde let herself relax and drift off to sleep.

* * *

Feeling a certain loss of contact, the blonde girl opened her eyes and noticed the white-haired girl slipping out of the bed.

"Hey, Weiss," the girl question nearly jumped and turned around.

"Good… good morning, Yang."

"Mornin'," Yang yawned, getting up. "You in a hurry?"

"Sort of," Weiss answered and started dressing up. "I need to go get that package from your father."

"Right, well, I don't really wanna get up but I feel like accompanying you."

"Hmm," was her only reply as Weiss finished dressing and tied her hair back up.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I don't… remember last time I slept as… calmly," the answer rung some warning bells for Yang.

"You don't sleep soundly often?"

"No."

"I know it's not my place to pry, but if you ever need to talk about it…"

"Thank you but I'm fine," Weiss gave a mild shrug. "I'm used to it."

"No, it's not fine and you shouldn't get used to such thing," Yang's gentle yet firm reply caused Weiss to glance at her.

"You really are a big sister."

"Damn right I am, now come on, let's get you that package."

Yang smoothed out her mane of a hair and started dressing up, putting on dark brown pants with a t-shirt, the blonde exited the room with Weiss in tow. Making their way downstairs, the pair noticed Blake, Ruby and Taiyang sitting in the kitchen.

"Good morning," Blake and Tai greeted in unison. Ruby simply waved two fingers.

"Mornin', guys," Yang took her seat but not before pulling up a chair for Weiss who gratefully, if a little stiffly nodded and sat down.

"How did you sleep? Did Yang do anything inappropriate?" Tai asked.

"No… she didn't. And I- we slept just fine, it was a bit cramped but nothing to be concerned about."

"Good to hear it. Your package is gonna be soon delivered to my shop."

Weiss nodded and turned to the three girls, "So, any classes today?"

"Nope, Sunday," Ruby waved.

"Mhm," Blake added.

"I see," Weiss turned back to Tai. "When are we setting out?"

"In an hour."

"Very well."

"Want anything to eat?" Taiyang inquired and pointed at two bowls. "I've cooked some stew and soup yesterday."

"A stew would do just fine, thank you," Weiss carefully accepted the bowl. "Do you have any of that wonderful coffee?"

"But of course!" Taiyang got up, walked up to the kitchen counter and poured a cup of coffee. "Here you go."

"Thank you," the girl took the cup and began eating.

Time went on as they continued eating and talking. Yang talked about her hand-to-hand training with her prosthetic. Blake was silently listening while Ruby bombarded her sister with questions about her arm's stability and durability.

Weiss finished her coffee, ate the rest of the stew and stood up. "Mr. Xiao Long, shall we be off?"

"Hm?" Tai glanced up to the clock. "We have at least another 20 minutes."

"Indeed. But in my experience, it's better to be way too early than too late."

Taiyang hummed, "Well, sure, I can agree with that."

The man stood up and walked to the door, turning to his daughters, "Anyone wanna tag along?"

"I do," Yang put her hand around Weiss's shoulders, who slightly stiffened but relaxed shortly. "I did promise the princess here to be her escort."

"You do realize that word has multiple meanings, right?" Blake asked with a wide grin. Weiss reddened at the implication.

"Yeah, I know," Yang grinned. "But I also promised I wouldn't make any moves on her."

The blonde eyed the white-haired girl, "Unless she asks, that is."

"Excuse me!?" Weiss's face was a color of a tomato.

"Relax, like I said, not unless you ask," Yang laughed and patted the girl on the forearm.

"Are you done flirting? Not very smoothly I might add." Tai asked and Ruby made a noise of disgust.

"You're the one to talk, dad." Yang chuckled. "Do I need to remind you that Ruby and I have different mothers?"

"Yes, because like I said," Taiyang wiggled his eyebrows. "I was smooth."

"Gross," Ruby concluded. Blake chuckled.

Yang noticed Weiss frown in thought, gazing into reflection in her coffee. Blake walked into the living room and Ruby took off into her room. Yang quickly threw on a jacket with a hood. Eventually, the three got out of the house and went on their way.

* * *

Despite it being Sunday, the market wasn't full unlike the day prior. The trio wasn't in any hurry, slowly making their way towards "Silver Wiring."

Yang was walking beside Weiss and tailing Taiyang in front, making small talk with the girl while her father would tease her about her tactics of asking people out. Weiss felt somewhat awkward after sleeping in one bed with Yang, however innocent that was.

"My colleague should be near the shop," Taiyang said, glancing over the shoulder.

"I see," Weiss said.

"It's Uncle Roman, right?" Yang inquired while shifting closer to her companion who just kept scowling slightly while politely keeping the distance with a light pink tint in her cheeks.

"Yup," Tai answered. "While he doesn't run a shop of his own, he constantly moves between stations, buying mainly Dust-related products."

"Is he a travelling trader as well?" Weiss asked.

"Uh, not exactly," came a vague response. "He's a businessman, he used to go around sponsoring small businesses but not anymore."

Before Weiss could inquire further, the three came up to the shop with a man standing in front of it. He wore a short orange scarf over white business suit and had a cane hoisted on his shoulder.

"Greetings Taiyang," Roman tilted his head and walked up to the trio. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Indeed it has, Roman," Tai gave the man a firm handshake. "I believe you have something for me."

"That I do, my friend," the man pulled a small case out of his pocket. "Two H/L D. batteries, as required."

Roman then turned to Yang and Weiss, waving to the blonde, "Hello there, Hands."

"Sup, Uncle Roman," Yang lightly greeted then turned to Weiss. "This is Roman Torchwick. Uncle Roman, this is Weiss."

Weiss quickly walked up to the man and stuck out her hand. "Greetings, Mr. Torchwick, please just call me Weiss."

"My, such a mannered yet confident young lady," Roman gently shook her hand. "I haven't seen you around. You're new?"

"Yes, I'm a starting trader," Weiss slightly puffed out her chest, a gesture that didn't go by unnoticed by either Roman or Yang, though the latter didn't bother hiding her snicker.

"Hohoh, not an easy profession you picked, my lady," Roman's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Anyways, I suspect the order that our Tai here commissioned me is for you?"

"Yes, thank you," Weiss pulled out her Scroll. "How much do I owe you?"

"Hmm," Roman tapped his cane on his shoulder in thought and took out his own device. "Well I didn't have to go through multiple checks for cargo, so I suppose we'll go by standard price for two batteries. 700 Lien per piece."

"Very well," Weiss put her Scroll to his, moments later transaction was complete.

"Wonderful!" The man handed the case over, then typed on his Scroll and Weiss's own device vibrated. "Here, my contact information. Do not hesitate to call me if you need anything else."

"Thank you," Weiss nodded. "I'll keep this in mind."

"Now, while I'd love to hang around with y'all," the man glanced over his shoulder to the elevator. "I do have some other business to attend to."

"What, wanna visit Professor Fall?" Yang wiggled her eyebrows, mischief present both in her and Taiyang's faces.

"Ah, still gonna tease me over this, you two?"

"Yup!" Came a simultaneous response. Meanwhile Weiss observed the interaction between the three.

Roman heaved a laugh, turned around and started walking away, saluting over his shoulder, "Yeah okay, stay frosty my friends!"

"Well, now that this has been dealt with, let's go in," Taiyang unlocked the door of the shop and gestured inside.

"I didn't think you were going to work today, Mr. Xiao Long," Weiss stated, walking over to the bar stool.

"I'm not," Taiyang replied lifting the counter's door open and stepped into the backroom. "I'm just gonna clean everything real quick for the next week."

Weiss sat down and looked over the case, opening it and finding two batteries inside. The objects were fairly small, not bigger than pinky finger and glowed cyan from vertical slits on the sides, pulsating every now and then.

"So, that's the package you've been hunting for," Yang sat next to Weiss.

"Yes."

"What do you need them for?"

"I'm building something."

"That 'something' is the thing hanging on your belt?"

Weiss turned to her companion, nodding, "Now I just need to get the tools."

"Pfft, that's easy, we can borrow some of Ruby's after we get back," Yang waved her prosthetic. "Ruby rarely allows anyone to touch them but she did help me calibrate this thing."

"… Are you sure? I wouldn't want to take up more of your household's time."

"Princess, at this point it's really no big deal, I already slept with you," Yang winked and was immediately rewarded with a slap on the shoulder.

"Phrasing, you buffoon!" Weiss scolded her and turned back to the package. "Are you sure Ruby will allow me to use her tools?"

"I'll make sure she does, my lady."

Both girls turned to face Taiyang, walking out of backroom swiping a bit of dust from his forearms and collar.

"Dad, why can't you lend your tools?"

"'Cause I don't have the kind of tools needed for object as small as this," He replied pointing at the hilt. "I mostly deal with objects at least three times its size."

The pair stood up, placing the stools back into the corner and followed Taiyang out of the shop. The man said he needed to check up on something, with that he walked off, telling the girls to have fun.

Not really wanting to part with Weiss, Yang spoke up, "Hey, would you mind showing me your ship?"

Weiss stopped dead in her tracks, mulled over the request for some time then nodded, beckoning Yang to follow her.

"Whoa, that's a cool ass ship," Yang stared at the vessel with Weiss standing way behind her. "And all that is yours alone?"

"…Yes."

"Where can I get one of those?" Yang turned to the white-haired trader. "Seriously, I want one-"

There was no response. Yang slowly closed the distance between them and took a closer look of her friend's face.

Weiss's face betrayed no emotion, except for small twitch of the scarred eyebrow and slight shift of skin over her left cheekbone. The trader's eyes however, told a different story: they were almost empty, slightly unfocused judging by minute jitters of the pupils.

"Hey, Princess?" Yang gently nudged the girl's shoulder. "Weiss?"

The girl blinked and turned to the blonde, eyes focused but still somewhat hollow, "Yes?"

"You okay? You spaced out there for few seconds."

"Oh," Weiss slightly shook her head. "I'm fine, I was just thinking."

"About what?" Yang knew she was probably treading on thin ice right now, since the alabaster-haired girl just brushed past her.

"Come, I'll show you the interior, after that we'll go back," Weiss mumbled.

Yang didn't like that one bit, seeing some similarities in the girl's behavior but chose not to voice it and followed.

* * *

Once inside the blonde quickly scanned her surroundings, following the trader and observing the girl. Weiss led her up the ladder and into corridor, showing different quarters, the kitchen space and bathroom.

Weiss's movements were clipped, almost mechanical.

"That's the cockpit," the girl pointed down the corridor towards the big glass window. "I'm certain I don't need to explain what its purpose is."

"Yeah."

Weiss made her way towards one of the quarters, "I'm going to take some clothes and take a quick shower."

"Hm? Why? You can just take one at our place."

"I'm not taking advantage of your hospitality, Yang," Weiss lightly pinched the bridge of her nose. "You've done more than enough."

"But-"

"No buts," the trader interrupted and started entering into the room. "I'm not repeating myself."

"… Okay. Just don't take too long," Yang took a step back but slid one last jab in. "And no touching yourself!"

"What?!" That quickly got Weiss out of her previous state and she ran into the doorframe with her left breast. "Augh!"

The girl clutched the spot, face scrunching up and leaned on the wall, taking quick gulps of air.

"Weiss!" The blonde jumped in next to her and placed her arm onto Weiss's right shoulder. "Are you okay?"

The trader didn't answer for what seemed like minutes before she breathed out one last time and pushed herself off the wall, shaking the arm off her shoulder, "I'm- I'm fine, thank you for your concern."

"Somehow I doubt that," Yang kept close just in case. "What was that?"

"Nothing important."

"Okay, that's bullshit and a half," the blonde stepped in front of the girl and stared into her electric blue eyes. "Judging by your reaction, that wasn't the first time but not enough to shrug it off."

"I said," Weiss shot daggers at Yang before relaxing her features. "I'm well, thank you. It's just an after effect of an injury."

" _Injury..?"_ Before Yang could ask the trader pushed past her into the room and closed the door.

Mulling over the incident, Yang remembered how Weiss behaved in her sleep this morning: jerking around, twisting face. And now this.  
The blonde started to feel bad about her quip, but it was in good faith, right? With that, the girl sighed and made her way towards the cockpit, taking a seat in co-pilot's chair, leaning forward and placing forearms on her knees.

" _Looks a lot like PTSD,"_ Yang thought as she watched the fingers on her left, organic hand, twitch. _"I wonder if that scar is also part of the injury."_

Yang's eyes snapped up at the sound of the door sliding open. She watched as Weiss exited her room without a word, holding dark blue pants, set of underwear, dark red shirt and jacket of the same color as her pants. The girl skipped one door and stepped into the bathroom.

* * *

About ten or fifteen minutes later, Weiss came out of the bathroom in her new attire, hair still loose and slightly wet. Yang couldn't help but admire the slim waistline, the thighs that were very pronounced through the girl's pants. The free flowing hair gave off the sense of serenity, peace.

Weiss's face, on the other hand, was neutral with a barely noticeable frown. Her vivid blue eyes were clear as day, as opposed to the emptiness from half an hour ago.

Clearing her throat Yang stood up, "Hey, Weiss?"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to apologize," the trader lifted an eyebrow.

"For what?"

"What do you mean 'for what?'" Yang closed the distance between them, watching the girl closely for any signs of discomfort. "If I hadn't distracted you, you wouldn't have been standing in the corridor, having a panic attack."

"A panic attack?" Weiss scoffed. "Please. I've been through worse."

Yang took a note of that last part, "Still, I'm sorry."

The white-haired girl scanned Yang with her eyes and gave a curt nod.

"All is forgiven," Weiss turned around and quickly dove into her room, re-appearing a moment later with a small case.

The girl beckoned the blonde to follow her and together they made their way out of the ship. Yang still kept an eye on Weiss but didn't bring anything up.

" _For now I'll just watch over her."_

* * *

It was nearing afternoon, as the pair was walking back to the house an idea struck Yang's mind.

"Hey," she turned to Weiss. "What say we go hang out in that café from yesterday? I'd like to eat something."

"It's not even afternoon," Weiss raised an eyebrow. "You can't be that hungry yet."

"Are you kidding? I'm a martial artist," Yang flexed her left arm to show off muscles. "I need to eat twice as much as a girl of my age."

Weiss hummed and nodded. The blonde internally cheered and they started shuffling towards the center of the market.

Once at the café, the trader ordered a glass of apple juice and the blonde ordered three chicken sandwiches along with peppermint tea.

"Tea?" Weiss glanced at the ordered drink and food.

"Yup," Yang said between bites. "I love me some good coffee but it's not totally healthy for the heart and I need good cardio."

"I see."

"What about you?" the trader blinked at the question. "What do you do aside from trading?"

"I…," Weiss stuttered. "I fence. Or try to at least."

"That explains the legs."

"Pardon?"

"Your legs," Yang nodded at Weiss's lower body. "Or your thighs at least."

"You've been ogling me?" The girl questioned with a bit of accusation.

Yang slightly fidgeted, "Kind of?"

Weiss just sighed and shook her hand which prompted Yang to blurt out:

"I mean it, I did complement your body before we went to bed."

"I'm flattered, truly," Weiss snarked.

Yang blinked and went on with her questioning, "What did you mean when you said you 'try' to fence?"

"What do you think I meant?" The white-haired girl snipped. "I have no mentor."

Yang noted slight aggression and decided to switch the subject, "Do you have any other uh… hobbies?"

"I-," Weiss paused. "I didn't have time to find any in the last year or so aside from impromptu fencing… I like to read from time to time."

" _Last year or so?"_ the blonde thought. _"Well at least she likes to read."_

"Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"Why-," the trader fell silent for a moment. "Is there any reason you're asking me all those things?"

"Well..," Yang picked her words carefully. "I'd like to get to know you closer, ya know?

"Again. Why?"

"I don't know."

"Hm."

The rest of their stay at the café was spent eating in relative silence with Weiss staring into her own reflection once again. After the pair finished with that, they decided to head back home.

* * *

"After you," said Yang standing in front of the door, waiting for Weiss who rolled her eyes and stepped into the house.

Taking off their jackets and placing them on the hanger, the two walked into the living room where Blake still sat, reading another old physical book.

"We're back!"

"Hey guys," she waved at the pair without looking up.

"Hey Blakey," Yang patted the girl on the back while Weiss took a seat in the chair. "Where's Rubes?"

"She went out for now," Blake lowered her book. "Why?"

"We need to borrow some of her tools for Princess's pet project over here."

"You know she's very overprotective of her… everything," Blake commented.

"Absurdly so," the blonde huffed. "I wish she'd be more like me in that regard. I mean, I once gave you my last clean underwear to walk around the house."

Blake flushed and slammed the book shut as Weiss covered her mouth with one hand, "Yang!"

"What?"

"It seems you aren't really privy to rules of decency," Weiss commented.

"I'll have you know," Yang put index finger up. "I'm more than decent."

"Sure," Weiss sarcastically rolled her eyes. "Because walking around the house in shorts slightly bigger than panties and a shirt several times smaller than your bust size is decent."

"It is!" Yang pouted. "Better than prancing around naked."

"Good point."

"Anyways!" The Faunus interjected. "Ruby will be back in couple of hours or so."

"Ugh, great," Weiss groaned.

"What's the rush?" Blake asked and opened her book again.

"There's no rush but I am running out of patience," the white-haired girl put her forearm onto armrest and placed her chin onto her palm. "I've been waiting for the last pieces of tech for a day and a half."

"Did you get what you wanted?"

"Mhm."

"Well then maybe we should do something to pass time," Yang suggested.

"We could watch something?" Blake supplied.

Yang shrugged whereas Weiss simply stared into the wall, lost in thought.

"Oh!" The blonde jumped slightly. "Blake, Weiss says she tries to fence. Maybe you could give her a few lessons?"

Weiss snapped back to reality and Blake raised an eyebrow, "Yang I deal in more free-form, not fencing."

"But you are a sword fighter! Surely you might teach the princess _something._ "

Blake put her book aside and crossed her arms. Weiss glanced to the black-haired girl.

"Free-form?"

"I prefer to fight in ways that allow for more versatility," Blake fidgeted and turned towards Weiss. "I don't know if I can teach you anything substantial."

After few moments, Weiss replied, "I'd like to try, if you're willing?"

Blake and Yang shared a glance with each other, the latter winking.

"Okay," the Faunus girl replied with a sigh. "But we'll do it in the evening. I'd like to enjoy some peace before then."

Weiss nodded and looked around, "Do you have a backyard or a room with any vegetation?"

"Well, there's dad's greenhouse," Yang blinked. "It's in the building down the street. Why?"

"I prefer to meditate near life forms that aren't human or Faunus. Something that acts purely on instinct."

"Meditate?" Blake inquired, thinking back to previous afternoon, to Weiss sitting on the lawn among the trees. "You like to meditate?"

"Not _like_ ," Weiss corrected, looking to the side. "I _need_ to."

"What do you mean you-"

" **I'm back!"**

Taiyang yelled as the door slid closed. The girls turned and greeted the blond man as he walked upstairs into his room. Few minutes later, Taiyang came back down and Weiss grabbed his attention.

"Mr. Xiao Long?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to ask you to let me use your greenhouse, sir."

"Why?"

"She wants to meditate there, Tai," Blake answered. "There's section with room temperature, right? The one with the sunflowers in it?"

"Well, yeah," Taiyang unsurely replied. "I could turn off additional heating and lamps but not for long."

"That would be splendid, sir," Weiss nodded in gratitude and stood up, walking with the man out the door.

Blake looked back to Yang, "Any idea what's that all about?"

The blonde sat into the chair and sighed. "I have a slight idea."


	5. Chapter 5

"The greenhouse is just two buildings over," Taiyang pointed to the side as the pair walked down the street.

A minute later, they stood in front of a rather small building with window shutters closed and unremarkable grey paintjob. There was however, a small sign in form of a leaf placed just to the side of the door. The blond man unlocked the door and motioned inside.

Walking through the door, Weiss was greeted by warm humid air. Looking down the hallway, she saw two rows of shelves with plants located on opposite walls. Small but rather bright lamps of warm light hung on each shelf, shining onto the plants.

"I'll turn those off for now," Taiyang said flipping the switch and shutting down the lights. "I'll get them back on once we leave."

"You're going to stay here?"

"Yeah, not for long but yes," the man said as he led the girl deeper down the hallway. "These plants are somewhat fragile. Can't let anyone prance around here."

"Where will you be, then?" Weiss asked, tailing the man. "I'd prefer to be alone during meditation."

"Oh don't worry," Taiyang waved off her concern. "I'm gonna go check on other rooms and then stay in the kitchen."

"Very well. Do you have any towels?" The trader eyed the man. "I just changed clothes and I'd like to not get them filthy."

"Hmm, yeah I do."

They reached a door on the far side. Sliding it open, the man led Weiss into the room and turned around. "I'm off to grab the towel."

As Taiyang walked out, Weiss surveyed the room: it was a rather small room filled with small tables. There were sunflowers stacked on almost every table and wall, giving off the illusion of the room being even smaller than it was.

The alabaster-haired girl walked up to one of the tables and gently caressed the flowers, grinning as the leaves tickled her fingers.

When was the last time she actually touched flowers? She couldn't remember.

Seconds later, Weiss sensed presence behind her.

"Found it!" Taiyang entered the room holding average-sized towel.

The man handed the object to the girl, "Here you go. I'll do a quick check up on the rest of the house and take a seat."

"Okay," Weiss answered as she laid the towel down in center of the room. "Thank you."

Sitting down and tucking her legs under, Weiss placed her hands on her thighs and took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she slowly tuned everything out. The next moment everything went quiet and the girl felt small pulsating all around. Letting herself drift off into depths of sensations and rhythm of the pulses, Weiss went still.

* * *

Blake's cat ears twitched as Yang kept whistling and moving around in the chair, making it creak from time to time.

"Do you really need to jerk around that much?"

"I'm bored," Yang replied and stretched.

"Go be bored somewhere else. I'm trying to read," Blake rolled her eyes and lowered her Faunus ears. "It's been half an hour at most."

The blonde shrugged and stood up, making her way into the kitchen and poured herself some milk. Blake looked back down to her book and-

"Hey," there it is. "Can I ask you something?"

The Faunus girl sighed and put her book down, "Yes?"

"What do you make of Weiss?"

"Pardon?"

"What do you think about her?" Yang asked.

"As a person or a merchant?" Blake turned her head towards the blonde standing in the doorway.

"Both?" Yang scratched the back of her head.

The black-haired girl sat and thought about the girl in question.

"She's proficient in business deals," Blake started. "Polite but curt in some cases-"

" -and easy to tease."

"Shush," Blake chided. "I think she suffered something bad in the past."

"You too, huh?" Yang quickly grabbed the mug off the kitchen counter.

"Mhm," the black-haired girl hummed then supplied. "I've noticed she tends to tune everything out and stare into nothing when no one is watching."

"Yeah I saw her staring into reflections a couple of times," Yang sat down next to Blake and grinned. "You've been ogling her?"

The Faunus girl rolled her eyes but did not deny it, Weiss is a rather curious character. Ever since yesterday, the trader was in the back of Blake's mind, surfacing every now and then.

After a moment of silence Yang said, "I think she has-"

" -PTSD?" Blake finished with expectant look. The blonde nodded. "Figured, she has the same telltale signs you once did. Plus that scar is a giveaway."

"Oh but that's not all," Yang tucked one leg under the other. After some time she said. "I believe she had a panic attack earlier."

Blake's eyebrows shot up, "When?"

"We went to her ship on my request about an hour ago," Yang fidgeted. "I uh… might've teased her a bit and…"

"And..?"

"She ran into doorframe," Yang rubbed her forehead and finished. "She then yelped and clutched the left side of her chest, hyperventilating."

Blake stayed quiet. Yang then added, "She also acted like a cyber-zombie when we were near the ship: sluggish movements and unfocused eyes."

"Oh."

"Yeah…"

"And let me guess," Blake turned fully toward the blonde girl. "You feel guilty and sympathetic."

"A bit..?" Yang admitted. "I tried to apologize later."

"How did she react?"

"She said it's fine," the blonde snorted. "That she's all right and forgives me."

"You think she's deflecting," the Faunus concluded earning a quick nod. "Also figured."

"This is so familiar it's not even funny," Yang grumbled, set the mug on the coffee table and rubbed the wrist on her prosthetic limb. Blake patted her on the shoulder.

"So, what do you plan on doing?" Blake questioned making the blonde glance at her in confusion. "It seems like you're intent on helping her, one way or the other."

"Won't matter if she doesn't want to be helped," Yang mumbled. "I've got a feeling she's even more stubborn than I was."

"What makes you say that?"

"You didn't see how she was shooting daggers," the blonde chuckled. "Also it's not like we'll have enough time to persuade or run her through the course. She's leaving soon."

Blake couldn't argue with that. It takes an awful amount of time to get traumatized people to open up.

"Well," the black-haired girl proposed. "How about we ask her to remain longer?"

"How?"

"There's a way: let's convince her to stay for sword training, maybe firearm training as well," Blake listed. "Or maybe find her new customers, she didn't sell all of her cargo yet."

"I doubt she'll agree Blake," Yang shook her head.

"And why pray tell, do you think so?"

"I- I don't know. I just have this feeling," the blonde took her mug and took a swing. "Like I said, she's rather stubborn."

"To the point of being unreasonable?" Blake raised an eyebrow and received a shrug. "Won't know until we try, Yang."

"I guess," Yang sat, lost in thought and Blake picked up her book.

To tell the truth, the Faunus's mind was straying more and more to Weiss. Despite the girl's polite and gentle behavior, there's underlying grit to her mixed with something else. Inner turmoil, perhaps. Maybe Weiss was simply lost.

"Hey," the blonde got her attention. "How about we go in to check on her?"

"During meditation," Blake deadpanned. "It's not safe: meditation is a state of trance, it takes few seconds to fully come out of it. Interrupting may result in her having a sort of night terror."

"Oh," Yang went limp on the couch. "Damn it."

Blake rubbed the blonde's leg absentmindedly, thoughts drifting.

Some time later, the Faunus decided to oblige, "Fine, let's go visit her. Just don't make a sound when we get there."

Blake stood up as did a rather confused Yang.

"What's with the sudden change in attitude, Kitty?"

Blake bristled at the nickname but didn't mention it, "I'd be lying if I said I don't want to help Weiss. Besides I'm curious to see how she looks when meditating without distractions."

* * *

Reaching the greenhouse, the black and yellow pair carefully stepped inside. Walking down the hallway they saw Taiyang sitting on the counter in the kitchen, reading on his Scroll.

"Dad?" Yang quietly walked up. "Where's Weiss?"

"Hmm?" Taiyang looked up. "She's in the room with sunflowers, at the end of the hallway."

"Can we quietly check up on her?" Blake stepped closer.

"Why?" The man frowned. "She specifically said she wants to be alone during all this."

"We know," the blonde girl raised her hands. "We just wanna see her, we're not going to do anything. I promise."

Taiyang was silent for few moments then nodded and pointed at his daughter. "Without a sound, clear?"

"Crystal," Yang and Blake nodded and slowly made their way to the room.

"Do you wanna do the honors?" the blonde looked at her partner and pointed at the door. "You know I'm not good with stealth."

Blake smirked and opened the sliding door, catching and holding lower edge of it to prevent it from making more noise and slowly lifted it up.

Once she did, Blake was greeted by a familiar sight: Weiss with her legs tucked under, deathly still.

"She looks so peaceful," Yang whispered as she crept up beside Blake. "Didn't expect to see a girl like her in such a position."

Blake shushed the blonde but agreed, quietly observing Weiss from the doorframe.

" _Might as well sit down,"_ Blake thought, slowly sitting down, prompting Yang to do the same. _"Feeling this is going to take a while."_

* * *

_Weiss stood in frozen plains of snow and small blizzard. Despite the snowy location, she didn't feel cold or wet. As if the snow was some sort of dust. Looking around the fields, the girl noticed three spires on the horizon with one of them seemingly half-destroyed._ _Slowly trudging through the snow that went up to her knees, Weiss headed towards the spires._

 _The closer she got to her destination, the steeper the path became: the plains slowly morphed into hills, yet again Weiss didn't feel fatigued as she kept walking up. Soon the white-haired girl could see the shadow of a familiar temple through the wall of snow._ _As the girl took a step forward, a low growl sounded behind her._

_Spinning around, Weiss noticed a dark figure in the distance, standing on all fours and approaching her at an alarming speed. As the creature grew nearer, Weiss took off towards the temple in hopes of finding shelter._

_Her pursuer however didn't let up and even accelerated its pace. Now slightly panicking, Weiss ran full gallop and soon reached the entrance to the temple. Running up the stairs, Weiss stopped in front of locked gate. Her luck didn't hold up for much longer, to Weiss's chagrin, as she heard thumping on the stone steps._

_Whirling to face her nemesis, the trader didn't expect to immediately see a set of claws flying towards her. Blocking the blow with the best of her abilities, which in this case meant her forearms, the girl was knocked over to the side with a grunt. To Weiss's surprise, she didn't feel anything as she tried to scramble and get up, noticing claw marks on her arms._

_Getting back on her feet she felt something clamp down on her shoulder. Looking down to her left shoulder, she saw the creature with its jaw embedded into her: blood-red eyes, ivory face plating, its mouth and teeth smeared with her blood. Feeling numb, Weiss started to lose consciousness. Before succumbing to darkness, she sensed a presence. No, **two** presences even._

* * *

Blake noticed Weiss's fingers grip her thighs, her features twitch ever so slightly.

" _Uh-oh,"_ the Faunus girl lightly slapped Yang on the forearm and whispered. "I think the meditation took a turn for the worst."

"Should we," the blonde hesitated. "… wake her up?"

"No," Blake shook her head. "Whatever is going on inside her mind must take its course."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

The black-haired girl nodded in agreement, "Unfortunately it is what it is."

As Yang was about to comment on something, Weiss's eyes shot open with a gasp and she leaned onto her arms, steadying herself.

The pair watched as the white-haired girl took few deep breaths lifting her head up, blue eyes meeting theirs.

"What are you two doing here?" Weiss squinted a little.

"Weeell-"

"Yang and I decided to check on you just in case," Blake interrupted.

Weiss blinked two times and started to stand up, flexing her shoulder and rubbing her arms.

"I appreciate the gesture but I said I'd be fine," the trader grabbed the towel and folded it.

"Yeah?" Yang raised an eyebrow and stood up. "Didn't seem like you were too comfortable."

Blake could only internally facepalm as she rose as well, "What she meant is, it's not common for people to express distress during meditation."

Weiss stopped for a second then resumed walking out of the room with the pair following behind her.

" _We might've stepped on a tripwire with that one,"_ Blake thought.

"It's a first time I had an experience like this," Weiss muttered. "Usually I either see only colorful pulsations of life forms around me or… revisit my old memories."

"… _Or not,"_ Blake was relieved and decided to test the waters. "Mind telling me about it?"

"… Perhaps later."

After giving the towel back to Taiyang, the three went back to the house in relative silence.

* * *

"So, mind to elaborate on whatever happened back there?" Blake cut to the chase, sitting down on the couch with Yang, Weiss sat down on the chair.

"Do you really wish to know?"

"I know I do," Yang placed her hands behind her head and put one leg onto the other.

"Very well," Weiss sighed and began her story.

Blake kept Yang from throwing in any questions, the last thing they needed is to let Weiss feel like she's being interrogated, which she might as well had been. The girl recounted the events of her vision, about the temple shrouded in blizzard, the dark creature and the eventual attack.

"From the description," Yang noted. "It sounds a lot like creature of Grimm."

"And it attacked you?" Blake pulled out her Scroll to look up the meanings of dreams, if that was even applicable here.

"Yes. I didn't feel anything of course but it was not fun all the same."

"I bet," Yang agreed.

"I've never had that kind of vision before," Weiss looked at her interlaced fingers. "It was too clear. Vividly so."

Blake nodded and frowned, finding no information or anything resembling the story. Closing her Scroll, the black-haired girl turned back to the two girls but mainly Weiss.

"Do you still want me to teach you today? Doesn't seem like the best idea."

"And why is that?"

"After that vision, no one knows what'll happen once you go to school of hard knocks," Blake explained. "For all we know you could mentally lapse back to that moment."

Of course, Blake also just wasn't really a fan of training someone with traumas, for their sake and her own.

Weiss narrowed her eyes and bit out, "If you're concerned with my mental state, you can keep it to yourself. I'm perfectly able."

"I'm… not implying you're not," Blake rubbed her forehead, her cat ears drooping as the frowning trader kept the gaze on her.

Yang's eyes flicked back and fourth as the girls stared at each other in silence. Eventually, she cleared her throat and stepped in.

"Hey, Weiss?" She said, grabbing the girl's attention. "How about this: for now we let you focus on constructing your thingy and maybe after, we can come back to this?"

Blake's eyes shifted to the blonde and back to Weiss who didn't bother with concealing her annoyance. Thinking it over, the trader took a breath and offered a nod. Blake silently counted her blessings, even though she wasn't out of the woods yet.

Yang exhaled and turned on TV, "Now then, what should we do while we wait for Ruby?"

"Can't we simply walk into Ruby's room and borrow the tools?" Weiss questioned as she relaxed in her chair.

"No," Blake shook her head. "There are only two cards to Ruby's room: the one she's got and Tai's."

"Which I say is unfair," Yang complained. "I'm her big sister, why am I also not allowed in?"

"So that you won't embarrass Ruby anymore than you already do," Blake deadpanned.

"But it's a family privilege!" Yang slapped the couch. "Dad also embarrasses her!"

"Not on daily basis like you do."

"Ugh!" Yang slumped before lighting up and running up to the table near the screen. "I have an idea: let's play some game!"

"Yang-"

"Too late, already booting up the console," the blonde took two controllers and walked back. "Hey Weiss, what would you like to play?"

"I get to choose?" Weiss took the controller offered to her.

"Yup, since _someone-_ " Yang pointedly eyed Blake. "- doesn't really let me play with Ruby when she's in the general proximity."

"Not my fault you two get really loud," Blake bristled. "I can't concentrate on my reading when you two screech at each other."

"Your household is never dull, is it?" Weiss smiled.

"Not on my watch," Yang sat on the floor crossing her legs and looked at the trader. "Well?"

"Hmm," the ivory-haired girl pondered. "My experience with gaming isn't vast or even average. Perhaps you should choose after all."

"Well, you want to pick up fighting skills, right? So let's get a fighting game!"

Blake thought about it for a moment and decided to support the idea, "I think that might serve as a decent basis. A lot of fighting games play around the idea of timing, movement and rhythm."

"But not just fighting games," Yang butt in. "Hack 'n Slash games also utilize that mechanic."

"Okay," Weiss studied the controller, picking up different buttons and a touchpad. "It's been quite some time since I held one of these."

"I'll go easy on ya, newbie," Yang grinned and turned back to face the TV, going through catalogue of games.

After some browsing, the two settled on a 1v1 style game. Once Yang ran Weiss through mock fights to get the girl familiarized with the controls and types of commands, they began their fighting matches with Blake watching and giving advices from time to time.


	6. Chapter 6

"That's such bullshit," Yang groaned and put the controller down. "It's like you have a God's favor or something."

"Beginner's luck, I assure you," Weiss half-smiled and put her own controller aside. "I just noticed that you throw a lot of hail marys, so you whiff quite a few of your grabs and throws."

"You just contradicted yourself, Princess!" Yang pointed at the girl. "A beginner wouldn't notice a lot of those."

"Not true," Blake smirked. "Grabs are very clearly telegraphed. All you need to do is pay attention."

"Plus it's not like I beat you in every single match," Weiss continued. "I'd say we had even matches."

"I guess," the blonde sulked. "Still bull, though."

Blake laughed at her friend's attitude. Weiss's half smile morphed into a smirk and she looked back to the TV, "I've noticed a peculiar choice of the score pieces in this game."

"Ah, that," the blonde tilted her head. "It's called dynamic score system."

"Basically, the better hit score you get, the more additional layers the soundtrack that is playing, gets," Blake clarified. "The goal of this system is to push the player to be at their best, to receive best possible results."

"Imagine playing and hearing only low brass or the 9th string," Yang snickered.

"Hmm," Weiss thought for a moment. "I'm not a fan of metal per se but I can definitely see how it affects the gameplay or the player."

The trader then turned to Blake, "I didn't expect you to know about this, if we're being frank here."

"Oh, just because I grill Yang and Ruby, doesn't mean I don't game," Blake chuckled. "I'm more about FPS and Hack 'N Slash games, though."

Weiss glanced at the blonde, "FPS?"

"First Person Shooter."

"Ah."

"By the way," Yang leaned and pressed her back onto Weiss's legs and hooking her arms around her calves, clearly not caring about the concept of personal space. "What genres are you good with?"

Shifting around to put some distance between herself and the blonde and finding out she couldn't really move, Weiss answered, "I don't know, honestly. I haven't been gaming since I was a little kid."

A quiet hiss of the door sliding open interrupted the three as Ruby pranced into the living room, carrying a small paper bag.

"Hey guys," the youngest girl chirped and set the bag onto the couch. "Have you been gaming?"

"Yeah, I suggested we play and Weiss wanted to try out some games for herself," Yang took the bag and peered inside. "Oooh, sweet. Literally."

"Weiss was rather successful," Blake commented. "Her and Yang were almost even, most of the time."

"Aw man, I wish I got to see that," Ruby took the bag out of Yang's arms and headed to the kitchen.

"Why?" Yang smirked. "So that you wouldn't have to feel bad about your own track record?"

The only response she got was Ruby flipping the bird from around the doorframe. Blake shook her head while Weiss chuckled almost inaudibly.

"Well," Blake stood up. "I suppose I'll make us some tea if Ruby brought the sweets."

"Relax Blake," Ruby's voice came from the kitchen. "I can do it myself."

"No offense Ruby but cooking and preparing drinks aren't your strongest suites," the Faunus girl commented.

"Aw c'mon! That was like, one time!"

"No it wasn't," Yang countered. "It was at least four."

"Yaaang!"

Blake went to the kitchen, set the kettle and pulled out tea set. She then picked up a box of leaves, grabbing a handful and placing them into a small dish, and started grinding them.

Meanwhile Ruby was placing doughnuts and cookies on dishes, putting them on the table. Once done with that, the younger girl went back into the living room, leaving the Faunus to wait until the water boiled and poured it into tea kettle. With the tea brewed, Blake poured 4 cups and sat down, calling other girls in.

"So, Ruby," Weiss sat down and took her own cup.

"Yeah?" the brunette was already hard at work, devouring her first doughnut.

"I was hoping to borrow some of your tools," Ruby's head immediately snapped at attention. "For my project, the one you examined yesterday."

"That depends on what tool you need, Weiss."

"I need an isolated, reinforced min-screwdriver so that it won't set off a reaction, and several gel-covered titanium bolts," Weiss listed the components as Ruby looked up in thought.

"Well I have those," the brunette grinned and squinted at the trader. "Buuut what will I get in return?"

"Need I remind you that you almost threw me off the ledge?" Weiss narrowed her eyes as Blake and Yang nodded.

"Uh, yeah," Ruby scratched her cheek. "Fair enough, then."

"But," Weiss decided to extend an olive branch. "I'm willing to let you observe my work."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Sweet!" Ruby moved her chair closer to Weiss's and threw her hand around the trader's shoulders. "Don't worry I won't make a sound, I'll be like a mouse!"

" **She won't,"** Yang and Blake said in unison.

"Oh come on!" Ruby whined. "Don't listen to them, Weiss."

"I don't know," Weiss smiled and sipped her tea. "I'm inclined to do just that."

Ruby muttered and gone back to eating her sweets. After finishing their little tea party, Ruby beckoned Weiss to follow her upstairs and towards her room.

* * *

Ruby's room was, suffice to say and for the lack of better description, a mess. Different clothes were strewn along the floor near the closet and the bed wasn't made and jumbled. The desk for studying was also less than orderly, with various tablets scattered all around. The only thing that was decently organized is a rather large workbench, with three rows of drawers with labels stamped onto them.

"So, welcome to my room, I guess," Ruby awkwardly shuffled towards the workbench and poked inside the drawers.

"You'd do well to clean up," Weiss stood beside the girl. "You might trip up."

"Yeah well, I don't have enough time to clean up constantly," Ruby waved off the comment.

Shaking her head, Weiss walked to the bed and quickly took the blanket, lifting it up and laying it over the bed to give it some semblance of order. With that down, Weiss took a seat on the bed and watched Ruby going through her workbench, fishing for needed tool and bolts plus a small tube of gel for said bolts.

"Aha!" Ruby laid all the findings in the center of the desk. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Weiss stood up and pulled a chair near the desk.

Settling down, the trader unhooked the handle off her belt, laying it in front of her, then she pulled the two small cases, also setting them on the desk.

"What are those?" Ruby pointed at the cases as she took a seat in the second chair.

"One contains H/L D. batteries, the other – some wires and resin," Weiss answered without looking up, opening the handle up.

"Could've just asked for those," Ruby said and kept watching.

"I only asked for things I don't have," Weiss rolled her eyes. "I have more than enough of everything else."

Weiss carefully took out the batteries and placed them down into the handle, finding the hinges and screwing them in place with the bolts. The batteries brightly pulsated few times but so far there was no sign of them going haywire. Slowly she applied a very thin layer of gel, then covering the heads of bolts with equally thin layer of resin to make sure they won't unscrew.

Weiss took the wires and gently hooked them up to the batteries, connecting them to the grid that went to the switch and Gravity Dust propulsion plates. All the while, Ruby watched in silence, observing Weiss meticulously place everything back together and closing the case of the handle back.

"Okay," the white-haired girl exhaled and took the handle in her hand, noting it shaking. "I believe it's done."

"So it's not just a tool but a weapon," Ruby summarized, earning a nod. "You don't seem like a fighter to me. Uh, no offense."

"None taken," Weiss noted the weight of the object with all its components now in place. "I've never really fought anyone. Not with this anyways."

"Then where did you get that scar from?"

Weiss froze up for second, remembering that Ruby doesn't really care for social lines.

"That was from an accident," the girl exhaled. "A rock hit me in the face."

"Ouch."

" _Yeah, ouch,"_ Weiss thought. " _Couldn't express it any better myself…"_

"Anyways," she snapped back to the weapon in her hand. "I'm not sure I want to turn it on in your room… or your house for that matter."

"Why not?" Ruby quirked an eyebrow. "I've tested a lot of not-very-safe things here."

"Because I'm not an idiot," Weiss turned to face the girl. "No offense."

The brunette shrugged and jumped off the chair, beckoning the trader and exited the room. Weiss silently followed, turning off the lights.

* * *

"If you can't test it out in here," Ruby suggested. "Them maybe you can do so in the Academy's combat area."

"On Sunday?" Weiss asked. "Would I be even allowed there?"

"Blake and Yang got special permit for it."

"But not you?"

"I'm 16, Weiss," Ruby muttered. "Even though I'm a Beacon student, there are laws that prohibit me using any weapons or receive combat training until I'm of age."

"I see."

"So, did you do what you needed to do?"

Weiss heard Blake's question from the living room as her and Ruby got downstairs. Poking inside, she saw the Faunus girl and Yang playing some sort of FPS, Blake clearly in the lead as evident by the blonde giving her stink eye every now and then. Eventually giving up, Yang put down the controller and stood up as Blake did the same. The two turned to Weiss.

"Care to show us your work?" Yang questioned.

"Not here," Weiss thanked Ruby for the assistance and turned to leave the house. "Ruby told me I can test it out in Beacon. With your help."

Yang and Blake glanced at each other then followed Weiss out, leaving Ruby to destroy all the remaining sweets on her own.

"What exactly are we doing?" Yang questioned as her and Blake followed Weiss to the elevator.

"Ruby said you have permission to use combat arena," the trader said without turning. "I was hoping to test out the thing there."

"You couldn't just do it back there?" Blake matched her step with Weiss's, flanking to the girl's left. Yang did the same from the right side.

"I don't want to risk it. For all I know it might blow up in my hand."

The three took the elevator up and went in the direction of the Right Tower. Moving through empty hallways, Weiss noted how well the building was maintained, despite being the most visited one of the three.

Walking through a big arc, Weiss was greeted by a massive area with four rows of seats, descending down to the arena. The girls moved down to the arena and stood in the middle.

"Okay, let's see it," Yang crossed her arms and Blake put her hands behind her back.

Weiss nodded and grabbed the weapon, waving at the two girls to take few steps back. Once they did, Weiss outstretched her left hand with the handle in it. With last short exhale, she closed her eyes, pressed the button on the side and the device strongly vibrated.

A stream of cyan light erupted from the handle's exhaust port. The stream immediately reformed into shape similar to that of a long-sword similar to those of ages past. There were purple-ish arcs of light going around the edges, moving in no particular order. The space near Weiss was bathed in that blue light, casting off small flickers purple on Weiss's suit.

Weiss took few slow experimental swipes. The weapon didn't feel any heavier except for small resistance from the blade moving through the air. There was a distinct hum, reminding Weiss of some sort of bird.

"Whoah!" Yang moved closer but kept her hands to herself. "This… is so awesome!"

"I'll say," Blake stared the weapon.

"Ruby will flip the hell out when she sees that," the blonde observed Weiss moving the weapon around.

Both her and Blake looked at the trader who seemed mesmerized by her own work. Weiss started walking around the pair, not acknowledging them and proceeded to swing the weapon around, getting accustomed to it.

"I..," the girl stopped and took the handle in both hands, bringing the blade in front of her face. "I didn't think it'd work."

"Weiss, would you mind if I give it a shot?" Blake shuffled her feet.

Weiss hesitated but handed the weapon over. Blake took it with a nod and started swinging it around, feeling no weight whatsoever. She then took her usual stance and performed several attacks in succession.

" _It's very jarring,"_ the Faunus thought. _"Not to feel anything weighing you down."_

She glanced at Weiss, _"How did she come up with such design?"_

"How about we test its properties?" Yang went to the side of the arena.

When the blonde came back, she had two armless dummies on her shoulders. Setting them up in front of Blake, Yang stepped back near Weiss. Nodding, the Faunus took a traditional kendo stance, holding the weapon in two-handed grip with the blade vertically in front of her.

With one swift step, Blake lifted the blade above her head and swung down full force. The very same second, the first dummy split in two, the two halves clattering on the ground. Not wasting momentum, Blake changed the grip to reverse and took a one-step lunge, striking the second dummy, slicing off its head.

Yang whooped and put her hand up for a high-five which Blake was happy to oblige. Weiss clapped, highly impressed not as much by her weapon as Blake's proficiency. The idea of being trained by the black-haired girl felt a lot more appealing now. Weiss took in the sight of the girl, eyes trailing down Blake's legs, her muscular thighs and toned calves. Flushing, Weiss cleared her throat.

"Well," the trader smiled. "You're certainly stuck with me now, Blake."

"Hmm?" Blake turned to Weiss.

"This little showcase of yours has me settled on going through your tutelage," Weiss smirked as Blake bashfully scratched her head.

"Well… there goes the chance of talking her out of training," giddy Yang patted her on the back.

"I suppose-" Blake turned the weapon off and handed it to Weiss."... you're my student now."

"Thank you for taking interest in me," the trader half-jokingly bowed.

"Alrighty then," Yang clapped and started cleaning up the destroyed dummies. "I'll get these out and then Blake will walk you through basic forms of defense."

* * *

With the rubble cleaned up, Blake went and retrieved two bokkens: wooden katanas for practice, and gave one to Weiss. Leading the girl to the center, Blake took a stance, motioning Weiss to mirror her actions.

Blake spread her legs in a wide stance, with the tip of the blade pointing at Weiss's chest level, "This is called 'ready position,' the starting move of any sword training."

Weiss nodded and did the same.

"There are mainly six basic forms," Blake lifted the blade in two handed grip and shifted her right leg backwards, shifting the blade with it, pointed at the ground. "One"

Next, she took a step back with her left leg, drawing the blade to the left, "Two."

Blake then brought the blade vertically in front of her face, keeping the handle near her chest, her legs staying put, "Three."

Slightly bending the knees and stretching out her right leg, Blake lifted the blade and put it behind her head, tip downwards and the side of it nearly touching her shoulder blade, "Four."

Bringing the sword back around to face her in frontal block, Blake switched the positions of her legs, "Five."

"Six," she lifted the sword above and in front of her head, placing it sideways. "Those are six forms."

Calling Weiss to stand beside her, Blake went to the first form, "Repeat all my movements, I'll watch yours."

Weiss lowered the sword down, shifting her leg, guiding it, "Very well."

Blake nodded and started going through the motions with Weiss following her lead, "One."

Yang sat on the bench and observed the two: while Blake flown and transitioned smoothly through the positions, being more experienced one of the two, Weiss was no slouch though clearly falling short in some instances such as letting the sword drift inches from its intended position.

After few rounds, Weiss's movements evened out with Blake's, flowing through the forms with her companion's appraising glances. Yang found herself staring at both of them, taking in every shift in weight and move. Weiss's toned but not defined legs, Blake's muscular thighs. She noticed Blake's deadpan look and mentally slapped herself. Not for staring but for getting caught.

* * *

Minutes turned into hours as the pair practiced the moves with the blonde watching them until the forms were etched into Weiss's memory and muscles remembered every motion.

" _Weiss is a fast learner,"_ Blake noted. _"We probably should proceed with the next step."_

"Okay," the Faunus girl stopped and faced the trader. "Next we'll do this: I'll strike at you while you block and parry with the forms you just learned."

"Understood," Weiss didn't seem fazed by hours of constant movement, which was reassuring.

"We'll start slow," Blake drew the blade in front of her face. "That's a universal sign of greetings and respect in the duel."

Weiss copied the movement and took a ready position. Blake struck at Weiss's legs in downwards direction, the trader blocking it, "One."

Next came the swipe at the trader left leg, Weiss blocking it as well, "Two."

Blake did an arc, swiping at Weiss's chest, Weiss lifted up the sword and blocked it, locking up and pushing the blade to the left, "Three."

The Faunus withdrew the blade and swiped at Weiss's right shoulder, who ducked slightly and brought the sword behind her back, blocking the attack, "Four."

As the sword bounced off the block, Blake struck at Weiss's left side, the trader quickly brought the weapon around and parried the attack in a glancing blow, "Five."

Spinning around her axis, Blake brought the sword upwards and struck downward, with Weiss blocking the overhead attack, counting the sixth move, "Good. Now let's work on the series."

"The series?" Weiss's breathing started to speed up.

"We go three more rounds, each round I'll increase the attack speed," Blake took ready position. "Ready when you are."

Going through the blocking and parrying two mores times, Weiss's movements began to slow down. In the last round the girl nearly fell over as Blake increased the pressure on the last two attacks.

"One last round," Blake announced, circling Weiss like a predator.

Weiss took a ready position and started moving in circle as well.

The very next moment Blake lunged, pressure doubled since the last round, "One! Two! Three! Four!"

Weiss started blocking, side-stepping and parrying, feeling the strain on her body. Each movement felt automatic but her hands reverbated with dull ache with from the strikes.

"Five! Six!"

The trader parried the fifth attack and blocked the last, her body nearly giving out. Stumbling back, Weiss checked the blade.

"The weapon feels lighter," Weiss noted, twirling the sword around.

"You're getting accustomed to it, connecting with it," Blake explained.

Yang snorted at the last part and Blake's poetic ways of interpreting things and stood up, walking toward the two. Blake's eyebrow twitched but didn't face the blonde. She withdrew the blade in the sign of respect.

"You've done quite well for a first timer," Blake laid the down the weapon. "Your stamina, while understandably low for a beginner, is nothing to scoff at."

"Thank you," Weiss wiped her eyebrows from little beads of sweat. "You're a fairly good teacher."

" _There's_ the thing you don't hear often," Yang piped up, standing near the trader.

Blake scoffed and punched the blonde in the forearm. Yang laughed and took the weapons from the two, walking back into the supply room. Weiss took few steps forward and stumbled, falling on her knees. Blake knelt down and put her hand around the girl's shoulders, helping Weiss up.

"It's okay," Blake walked with Weiss towards the bench and set the girl down. "No one's expected to prance around after the first session."

"Yes, thank you Blake," Weiss sat and watched at red spots slowly appear on her palms. "When will the next training be?"

Blake's ears perked up and she looked down at the girl, "Not today, obviously. Maybe tomorrow or in the coming week."

Weiss absentmindedly nodded. Yang appeared next to her and took her arms into her own. Weiss was confused but didn't protest as Yang started spraying something onto her palms. Wincing at stinging sensation Weiss watched as the glaring red spots turned to healthier pink. Yang blowed onto her palms to ease the stinging, the trader reddened at the action.

"That's a med-gel in a spray form," Blake explained as Yang stood up and sprayed her hands. "It helps with surface-level injuries like sores, cuts and calluses."

"Last I heard of it, it was still in prototype stage," Weiss put her hands down, palms up.

"Beacon Academy helps with the research of the prototype," Blake clarified. "It was handed it to us since people here are more prone to injuries."

The Faunus looked at Yang who innocently whistled and went back to put the spray on the counter near the arena. Weiss stood up and followed the pair out of the combat arena.

* * *

On the way back home, the three discussed the arrangements of Weiss staying longer. Renting a room would make expenses higher along with fees for the housing parking of "The Defiant." That could be easily rectified by selling Weiss's cargo but so far aside from that one deal with Junior, there were no customers.

"We could speak with Professor Fall," Blake suggested. "She's in DT&A."

"Cinder?" Yang tapped her chin with her finger. "Could work, again there's no guarantee she needs anything."

"But most of Dust-related matters at Beacon go through her," Blake countered. "Even if she doesn't need anything, doesn't mean Beacon as a whole doesn't."

"Are you on first name basis with every professor?" Weiss slowed down and fell in step with the blonde.

"Not really," Yang shrugged. "Cinder is the type of teacher that doesn't mind being addressed like a friend outside the classroom."

"She is one of, if not the youngest professor at the Academy," Blake chimed in. "She's probably not used to being treated in high-regard or so formally."

"Now, Goodwitch on the other hand," Yang laughed and Blake slapped her on the hand, half-smiling.

"So, here's the plan," Blake proposed. "Weiss, you bunk with us for the time being-"

"Why are you two, plus your father are so hellbent of not letting me out of your sight?"

Blake and Yang froze up mid-step and glanced at each other. While Tai's reasoning is probably his genuine caretaker personality. Their own reason however, is more complex. Blake was the first to speak up while Yang took her time to formulate an answer.

"Well, first off, letting your wander around would be irresponsible of us," Blake started, her mind running dozens of miles per hour. "A-a and we like to help people, Yang moreso than I do. But uh-…"

"We're really feeling like we should, y'know, help you?" Yang interrupted Blake.

"So it's not some elaborate ploy to get in my rich pants," Weiss crossed her arms and looked at the pair.

Cogs both in Yang's and Blake's heads immediately grinded to a halt, hearing that. Blake's face morphed into proper mix of confusion and shock. Yang's face on the other hand…

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Yang took a step forward to the white-haired girl. "Who the hell do you take us, _me_ for?"

To her credit, Weiss didn't twitch as the behemoth that is Yang closed in on her, breaking the boundaries of personal space. Her face had that _"Really? You don't remember last night?"_ look. Yang's left, organic arm was twitching, her prosthetic arm clutching it.

" _Well that's a 180 degree shift,"_ Weiss thought. _"I might've pushed a wrong button and a bit too far. Note for the future."_

"Yang…" Blake snapped out of her stupor and put her hand on the blonde's. "It's a fair question."

Yang's eyes snapped to meet Blake's, her words just now reaching her brain. Taking a long deep breath and exhaling, the blonde patted the hand and took a step back, mumbling "I'm sorry" to the trader.

"Weiss," Blake paused and swallowed, suddenly feeling put on the spot, seeing the girl's eyes snap to hers. "Where there any cases of that happening to make you ask such a question?"

Yang immediately snapped her head to Blake then back to Weiss, then eventually to the ground, sort of afraid of the answer. Weiss's arms tightened around her chest, the girl lifted her head and looked to the side, turning to push past the pair to continue to walk down the road.

"A few times," she nonchalantly said, it was the only reply Blake received. It was more than enough.

It was also more than enough for Yang, who started mentally kicking herself. Now sudden changes in Weiss's attitude during their chat at the cafe earlier made sense.

" _No wait,"_ Yang looked at her hand in thought. _"Is it possible that someone… r- rap-"_

"Come on you two," Weiss looked over her shoulder. "We don't have all day."

Blake silently took Yang's hand and the two started slowly trailing the white-haired girl. Putting a pin in for the time being, Blake kept her gaze anywhere but Weiss.

* * *

_Some notes._

_Been a while since I wrote anything in post-Chapter._

_Some people might recognize the bit of dialogue in the gaming portion of this Chapter._

_Yes, I did in fact, take a jab at game journalists for their poor performance during Devil May Cry 5 Demo try-outs, where the music would kick in the higher score you got._

_The training part of the Chapter was inspired by Star Wars Rebels Season 3, Episode 14/15: Trials of the Darksaber. Here's to you, SW fans._

_Now… the last part. We all kind of got the impression that Weiss's story is not a pretty one prior to her arrival at Vale Station. There are steps to that story. The first one being the one that sent her on the journey. The second was the one that was hinted at this Chapter._

_And like the show proper, Chapter 6 is where shit got real. lol_

_Until next time, people._


	7. Chapter 7

Blake and Yang followed the girl back to the house, pace even, unsure. After their little interaction earlier, Blake had no intention of pursuing the matter of Weiss's misadventures. The Faunus fully intended to give the girl space. She glanced at her blonde companion, who clearly had a different idea in mind. Yang was trying to hasten her pace to catch up with Weiss but Blake's firm grip on her hand made sure she stayed put.

"Why are you two so slow?"

The question made both girls jump. Blake looked at Weiss, whose face didn't betray any emotion aside from a raised eyebrow. The white-haired girl stopped and faced the pair.

"I don't remember telling you two to stay away," the girl crossed her arms and frowned. "Quit being scaredy cats and walk beside me."

"… Okay," Blake felt Yang's hand leave hers, who didn't really need any further encouragement and took off to walk beside Weiss. Blake quickly caught up and flanked to Weiss's left while Yang took the right.

"If it's got something to do with our previous conversation," Weiss started. "You can forget about it. It was stupid of me to bring it up but you can't be too careful these days."

"It wasn't stupid," Yang affirmed, rubbing her hand. Blake nodded.

Weiss raised an eyebrow but kept silent. Blake glanced at the blonde, who seemed hellbent on keeping close to Weiss. Well closer than usual, that is. The trader noticed the decreased distance but didn't say anything.

 _"It seems like that conversation sparked up that old big sister instinct in Yang,"_ Blake noted. _"Like she's about to deck anyone who looks at them funny."_

Clearing her throat, Blake began, "Listen, Weiss I know it's not really the smart thing to do, but could we resume that talk? At a later time, perhaps?"

Weiss didn't bother hiding her exasperation, "Later." She said in curt manner.

" _Well,"_ Blake sighed, thinking the conversation will be either not very civil or there will be a lot of talking to a wall. _"I've made the bed, gotta sleep in it."_

Aside from obvious pointers like the scar and Yang's story from before, there were some other layers to Weiss's story before she came to Vale. It's not healthy to keep all that in. But then again, who was she to judge? And who's to say it's not best left alone?

On the other hand, keeping all of that buried deep within can ruin a person. Crossing her arms, the Faunus stared at the ground, chewing on that little nugget while keeping steady pace with Weiss and Yang.

Yang noticed Blake's stature and nudged the black-haired girl, grabbing her attention and raised an eyebrow. Blake shook her head and mouthed "Not now." Yang nodded and went back to her position to Weiss's right.

"I sense your turmoil, Blake," Weiss suddenly piped up, making Blake stumble. "You're rather transparent for being more quiet of the two."

Weiss paused and shook her head, then muttered, "Do not worry. I will speak with you on this matter." The trader gave a small, stretched smile. "When I'm ready, that is. I do hope you understand."

"Of course," Blake said quickly. "I won't force you to tell anything right away."

"Hey. Why does she get special treatment?" Yang pointed at Blake with her thumb. "I can keep a secret too."

"Not to imply anything, Yang," Weiss exhaled. "But you did tease me about our… bodies and… watching."

"Ah," Yang deflated a bit and looked to the side. "Fair enough, then."

Weiss quietly chuckled, "You and Ruby truly are sisters."

"That they are," Blake chimed in, more than happy to change the subject.

Rest of the walk back was spent making small talk and idle chatter, the three lapsing back to more or less comfortable atmosphere. Blake tried her best to not revert back to her previous train of thought. All of them had enough to deal with, especially Weiss. The Faunus looked up at side-windows near the level's ceiling. The sunlight was dimming, signaling the coming of evening. As with the sunlight, the lights on the station began changing from warm to cold blue light.

* * *

Closing the door behind them, Blake watched as Weiss took off her jacket, leaving her in a shirt and moved to the TV, immediately picking up a controller. Yang did the same albeit with slight hesitation. Ruby was nowhere to be found, back in her room more than likely.

"Let's play something," Weiss turned on the console and, to everyone's surprise, sat down on the floor with legs crossed.

Blake's eyes widened as Yang plopped down next to the girl and Weiss quickly adjusted so that there was enough space. If Yang was affected by the action, she didn't show it.

"So, what should we play?" The blonde asked.

"I don't know," the trader scratched her chin. "Something with less energy than our training."

"An FPS it is, then!" Yang quickly scrolled through the catalogue.

"Shouldn't we," Blake hesitantly started. "… take a shower first?"

Weiss moved her hands and sniffed, "I'm good. I don't smell anything."

"Okay then," Blake moved upstairs, taking off her shirt in the process.

Weiss's eyes followed Blake's movements and she noticed that shit-eating grin on Yang's face, wiggling her eyebrows at the trader.

"Don't be a pest," Weiss scolded, flushing. "I admit, she has nice forms."

"Oh yes, she does," Yang nodded sagely then cleared her throat. She turned back as well, sneaking side glances at the girl.

Next ten to fifteen minutes were spent playing a competitive PVP shooter.

The speed of the gameplay was nowhere as fast as the game they played earlier that day but there was a noticeable lack of energy in both girl's playing nonetheless.

"So," Yang began. "I'd like to know something."

"What is it?"

"Do you have family? Distant relatives?" Yang slowly inquired.

"Family?" Weiss looked at the ceiling. "None. Distant relatives? Probably."

"An orphan?" Yang asked, watching the trader slowly nod. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Weiss waved her off. "I'm used to it by now."

_"By now?"_

Yang found herself snaking her arm around the girl's shoulders.

She felt something touch her hand. Glancing down she saw Weiss squeezing the hand that was around her shoulders. A simple gesture.

But it was enough to make the blonde pull Weiss in a gentle yet firm hug. The trader didn't protest and relaxed into the embrace. Yang felt the girl's hands wind around her mid-section and Weiss shifting her body for better position. Weiss put her head onto the blonde's shoulder and exhaled.

"For all it's worth," Yang muttered and rubbed the girl's back. "You'll always be welcome in this house."

The blonde didn't miss a small hitch in Weiss's breath and the hold on her body tightening ever so slightly. When did she become so familial with the white-haired girl?

After a few minutes, Yang noticed Weiss's breathing evening out, her chest moving at a steady pace and the noticeable slack in the girl's posture.

Yang adjusted her position to stand up with Weiss in her hands. She turned off the console, changing the channel back to default setting.

After fumbling for a few moments, the blonde gently sat down on the couch and laid Weiss down next to her. Yang kept carefully rubbing the girl's forearm while flicking through channels, reflecting back on the day's events.

* * *

Upstairs, in the shower, Blake did the same: reflect. Scrubbing her hands and shoulders, her breasts, the Faunus girl thought about everything that has happened and how quickly she grew attached to Weiss.

The girl's mysterious and sometimes haphazard shift in attitude left Blake perplexed. First time she met the girl: she was confident yet polite.

Then the next day she was blunt, dismissive yet easy to converse with. She played games with Yang, made small talk with Blake, showed off her genius both to the blonde and herself. Then she went ahead and asked that question. Then all went to hell.

After that Weiss herself tried to rectify the situation, to what extent wasn't for Blake to say. Deep down the Faunus understood exactly why Weiss acted the way she did: it was her way to venting the stress after traumas. Them sticking close to her like flies on spilled honey probably didn't help either.

She knew that Yang understood that too. The Faunus was instantly reminded of the blonde's lapses when Weiss grew passive aggresive. Blake turned off the water and stepped out of the cabin, grabbing the towel. After drying herself off and wrapping the second towel around her head, careful not to touch the ears, the black-haired girl put on simple sweatpants and a blouse and exited the bathroom.

Descending down the stairs, Blake noticed Yang sitting on the couch with Weiss sleeping soundly next to her. Her white hair spanning over the couch like a snow blanket. The Faunus quietly slid into the chair.

"I presume the situation is diffused?" Blake asked in hushed tone and kept her gaze on the white-haired girl.

"Sort of," Yang answered in equally low tone and scratched her thigh. "I didn't really do anything."

"Maybe not," the black-haired girl conceded. "But you do have that effect on people: making them act on their deeper, baser instincts."

"Thanks, I guess," Yang kept moving her arm to comfort Weiss.

Weiss mumbled and moved closer to Yang's lap, her forehead touching the blonde's thigh. Yang giggled at the action and massaged Weiss's temple.

"Not gonna lie," the blonde grinned. "I kinda wanna just cuddle her like a little spoon."

"Normally," Blake eyed the sight before her. "… I would disagree."

Yang's eyes widened at the response, fully expecting being reprimanded for the remark. Her expression morphed into a warm smile and she beckoned for the Faunus to come closer. Blake slowly shifted the chair closer to the couch and leaned in. Yang lifted her left hand and scratched the base of Blake's cat ears. The Faunus leaned into the touch and closed her eyes. Some would say it was demeaning to give in to her baser instinct, but like she stated earlier, Yang has that effect on people.

* * *

Stirring up, Weiss noticed both Blake and Yang dozing to her right, the Faunus was perched up near the armrest with her head on the blonde's shoulder. Yang was slightly tilted to the left, her own head resting against Blake's. The trader scooted slowly to the opposite side of the couch and stood up.

Stretching her joints with a satisfying pop, Weiss went to the kitchen and put the cup of tea into the microwave, not wanting to wake anyone up by a whistle of the kettle.

"Hey, Weiss."

The trader jumped at the words. Turning around, the blue eyes met Ruby's orbs of silver. The brunette had what Weiss could only presume to be dust smidge on her face. Ruby wore a small working apron with goggles strapped on her forehead.

"Hello, Ruby," Weiss nodded. "You're busy with something?"

"You could say that," the youngster rubbed her forehead with a frown. "I was actually hoping you could help me. Just a little?"

The trader heard the quiet ding of the microwave and retrieved her tea. Ruby rummaged through her apron's pocket and fished out a small holo-disk. Weiss tipped her head towards the table motioning Ruby to take a seat. Ruby sat down, putting the disk on the surface. Weiss took a sip and tapped the sensor on the device. An 3D image spurred to life, illuminating the table underneath it in red-ish light.

"Is that supposed to be..?"

"A locking mechanism, yes," Ruby crossed her hands over the table. "I want to take schematics of regular locks and augment them with Gravity Dust rods."

"You're basing it off an assumption that usually," Weiss started. "If two Gravity Dust rods are near each other: the one with weaker pull will get attracted and stuck to the one with stronger pull."

"Yeah."

"Not a bad idea," the trader nodded. "However, then it would require quite a resource management and a way of disengaging them."

"That's what I wanted you to help me with," Ruby drummed her finger on the table. "Looks like Dust is your field."

"Any particular reason you're doing any of this?"

"Part of the assignment," Ruby shrugged. "We, the guys in tech class, are supposed to make something new out of something old."

"I see."

Putting the cup down, Weiss started manipulating the scale of the blueprint. With a small clap of her hands, Weiss spread her arms out. The projection immediately grew at least four times its size and soon, Ruby and Weiss were looking at the structure of the mechanism in great detail.

"Maybe we could..," the pair spent some time, brainstorming the ideas for energy consumption, blocking for the rods, wiring and energy backups.

* * *

Waking up from the noises in the kitchen, Blake begrudgingly stood up to check whatever was going on. Gently settling the sleeping Yang down on her side on the couch and taking off the disheveled towel from her head, Blake went to the kitchen.

Poking her head in the door, the Faunus was met with the kitchen bathed in red light plus Ruby and Weiss, mulling over a blueprint. The trader had that cute frown that she had whenever she was trying to come up with solution for a riddle. Not wanting to disturb the two, Blake went back to the couch and woke Yang up.

"Hmm?" Yang rose up. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Blake patted the blonde on the leg. "I just thought we need to decide on the sleeping arrangement."

"What?"

"I'm not sure Weiss would be willing to sleep with you again," Blake dryly noted.

Raising her finger the blonde looked like she was about to protest, then put it down, "Fair enough."

Blake's features softened and she rubbed Yang's shoulder in encouragement, "We could have her stay with Ruby, however weird would that be."

"No," the blonde shook her head. "I think it would be good for you to take her in."

"Me?" Blake's eyebrows shot up. "Why?"

"Remember when you said that I make people act on more instinctual level?" Yang questioned. "Well you're better at listening people. Letting them spill their hearts out."

Blake fell silent, considering the option and imagining the awkward atmosphere that would reign with her and Weiss in private. She wasn't as brave as Yang to power through the fog nor did she have the blonde's lack of social awareness at times.

"Okay," the Faunus girl exhaled. "I might get a chance to talk to her about… you know."

Yang nodded, standing up. Blake uncertainly inched her way to the kitchen entrance and leaned against the frame, watching Ruby and Weiss do their thing.

The trader and the brunette acknowledged her presence, nodding but otherwise paid no mind. The hologram was now deconstructed to several parts. Blake observed the way Weiss's fingers ghosted along the "surface" of the hologram, the way her fingers moved, the slow and methodical swipes to change the size and position of holographic parts.

"We can't put the wire too close to the G/D rod, the shielding might get torn off with time…"

"Ruby, Weiss," Blake cleared her throat, drawing attention. "It's getting late, we should head to bed."

"Oh, okay," Ruby got up and checked her pockets, reaching out to the disk.

"Ruby?" Weiss spoke up. "Do you mind leaving the blueprint to me? I'll try to get it done for you by morning."

"Really?" The brunette skipped a little and gave the device to Weiss. "You think you can pull it off?"

"I'll do my best to do so," Weiss flexed her left shoulder. "By the way, where is Mr. Xiao Long?"

"Oh dad always gets home late on Sundays," Ruby shrugged. "He usually goes around shopping for the next week and gets materials for the shop."

"I see."

The three put the chairs back, turned off the lights and went upstairs. Waving her goodbyes, Ruby slipped into her room. Blake and Weiss watched the door close with a quiet hiss.

"So," Weiss shifted slightly. "Where do I sleep this time around?"

"Mmm, Yang and I decided that it's better for you to bunk with me," Blake shuffled her feet, suddenly nervous.

"Okay," the trader went further into the corridor and stood next to the door to Blake's room. "I do hope less ogling will be involved?"

"Ogling?"

"Indeed. While I don't care about my body much, I'd like to not be an eye-candy."

"… Oh." Blake's ears fell flat. "Yang commented on your body?"

"Mhm."

"Positively, I assume."

"I suppose."

"I promise not to ogle you," Blake crossed her heart.

"Good," Weiss ran her hand through her hair. "Also I don't plan on sleeping too much… or at all for that matter."

Blake's eyes widened and her ears perked up again, "Why?"

"Because of this," Weiss waved the holo-disk. "I did promise Ruby to finish it by morning, remember? The task has proven to be quite a hurdle."

"… Okay. But if I catch you nodding off, you're going get thrown into the bed." Blake half-joked.

"Noted."

* * *

Blake's room was, by far, the most organized out of the three rooms presented to Weiss earlier. The layout was similar to Ruby's room which was just an inverse of Yang's room. The Faunus girl didn't have two tables like Ruby or bars for pull-ups like Yang.

Only a plain desk with few old books on it, a chair with a bag hanging on it, a slightly wider one person bed and a drawer next to the closet.

Blake took off her clothes, silently thanking Weiss for turning around and put on her kimono-styled pajamas.

Settling down in her bed, Blake watched as Weiss quietly sat down at the desk and kept spinning the hologram, drawing lines of wires and details.

"Still not at all subtle, Blake," the black-haired girl jerked at the remark. Shaking her head, she realized that she already broke her promise.

"… I'm usually not that visible or obvious..," Blake grumbled. "How do you keep noticing?"

"Not noticing," the trader corrected. "Sensing."

" _Sensing?"_ Blake raised an eyebrow, cat ears twitching. "What, you got a sixth sense?"

Due to it being a half-hearted joke, the cat Faunus truly didn't expect the answer she got:

"In a way. However I don't see the future like some people can in calm environment."

"… What," Blake straightened up and put her back against the pillow. Weiss didn't turn around, still tinkering with the blueprint. "You're serious?"

"Am I?" Blake could clearly hear a smirk in the trader's voice.

"Is that, by any chance, why you were able to block all the attacks in our session?"

"Only partially," the girl admitted with a mild shrug. "The rest was your teachings."

"So," Blake cleared her throat. "Is it a gift or a skill you've developed?"

"What kind of question is that?" Weiss snorted. "It's both."

" _Intriguing,"_ the black-haired girl thought, tapping her finger on her thigh.

Blake decided to keep silent and digest the new information she got. While rumors of people with extraordinary abilities weren't uncommon, it was more or less hearsay. And now she finds out that her new acquaintance has keen environmental and sensory awareness. Now all the times she caught Weiss staring into nothingness and meditating made sense.

Blake had decided to lapse into her usual routine and closed her eyes, letting her cat ears scan the room for any new and old sounds. Finding the small hum of the hologram and Weiss's breathing the only new noises in usually very quiet room, the Faunus slid back under the blanket, slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

_Some notes:_

_Now, I know there's been really only one "action" sequence so far. The main reason for this is that I want to spend a good chunk on the characters first._

_Plus I suck at describing combat scenes, so that way I get to write character moments while getting the hang of that._

_Since this is AU, the fights will feel and look a lot different than usual. Main inspirations for those are Star Wars (specifically The Clone Wars, Rebels and the Mandalorian), Metal Gear series, Naruto series and the Witcher, where the fight scenes are much more surgical and precise._


	8. Chapter 8

_**Attention, readers. There will be a small explanation for the delay, do be kind and read it all.** _

* * *

Restless and sleepless nights weren't new for Weiss. Physically she didn't feel too tired surprisingly, considering that Blake put her through a small meat-grinder yesterday. No, what really proved to be taxing was the small project she worked on for Ruby. The placements of certain parts have proven to have their pros and cons. Mostly cons.

Eventually, the white-haired girl accepted the shortcomings and put the wiring in the most convenient place at the price of the wires still getting eroded by Gravity rods attracting dust and metal particles, albeit at a way slower pace.

The whole ordeal reminded Weiss of the times she did similar things with her prodigy of a brother.

" _Finally it's done,"_ Weiss suppressed an urge to yawn as she glanced back at Blake, sound asleep.

It was about an hour before the sisters and the Faunus needed to wake up to go to the Academy. Not really liking the idea of sitting around and staring at the wall, Weiss put the disk into pocket of her pants. The trader walked up and took a meditation position near Blake's bed, not missing the way the girl's cat ears twitched.

" _Cute,"_ Weiss thought as she _nearly_ reached out to scratch the feline appendages but her best judgment stepped in.

Going through the usual routine, she folded her legs and closed her eyes.

* * *

Hearing the ringing of a Scroll through the thick shroud of pulses, Weiss slowly came out of her suspended state of mind. She was greeted by the sight of Blake throwing the blanket off herself and getting into a sitting position.

"Good morning."

"… Good morning, Weiss," the black-haired girl stretched, yawning.

"Rested well?"

"Well enough," Blake replied as she stood up… not noticing her pajamas slipping off her shoulder.

If there was one thing Weiss didn't expect to see in the morning: it was a sight of someone's exposed breast.

As attractive as the sight was, Weiss quickly turned away and loudly cleared her throat. Blake's ears turned in Weiss's direction followed by the Faunus turning her neck to face the trader.

"What is it?"

"Your pajama slipped, Blake," the white-haired girl replied without turning and vaguely gestured to her own chest. Following Weiss's hand, Blake glanced down.

"Oh!" sputtering, the Faunus turned around. "I'm sorry. My brain didn't fully wake up."

"It's fine," Weiss was still facing in table's general direction. "Your situation is more understandable than Yang's."

Blake awkwardly chuckled while fixing the piece of clothing, "So, I assume you were meditating again?"

"That assumption would be correct."

"How often do you do this?"

"Whenever I can," Weiss shrugged and stood up. "On a side note: I'm surprised you didn't wake up earlier. I, uh… saw your cat ears reacting but you didn't stir."

"I've learned to tune out most of the noises. You wouldn't believe how annoying it is to wake up to every little sound."

"I might have an idea," Weiss commented.

"Oh?" Blake thought back to their last conversation. "Ah. I suppose it makes sense."

"Mhm."

"I have a spare toothbrush, if you'd like," Blake said, picking up a white shirt, black pants and a small towel.

"I'd appreciate it," Weiss received the said item Blake handed to her.

The two left the room and headed to the bathroom. On their way they met Taiyang who looked _very_ sleepy and Ruby who seemed like she didn't sleep at all but wasn't affected. Yang was the last to leave her room, not looking any better than her father, again wearing these _very_ tight and small shirt and shorts.

Grabbing her jacket, Weiss walked out falling in step with the three girls towards the elevator. Ruby walked in front of the group while Weiss trailed directly behind her, with Blake and Yang walking farther behind the two. Ruby observed the hologram of the lock until putting away the disk into her pocket.

"Thanks Weiss," the brunette bowed her head to Weiss to the left, not stopping her stride. "I know it's not the best piece of tech to work with but..."

"You're welcome," Weiss rubbed her eyes. "It's true it was a pain and I couldn't do much."

"Well, thanks regardless," Ruby clapped Weiss on the shoulder two times. Boarding the elevator, the youngest girl piped up. "Ooh I have a question."

"Hm?"

"Do you think you could visit our classes?"

Weiss crossed her arms, "It's not possible for a non-student to attend without permit."

"Aw but you already have a soft spot in Oz's heart," Yang piped up from behind. "I'm sure he'll be gracious enough to let you attend a few classes."

"This is a fair point," Blake chimed in.

"Hm," the white-haired trader tapped her finger on the forearm. "Maybe."

"Pretty please?" Ruby (and Yang for some reason) gave her the best puppy eyes impression Weiss has ever seen.

"… Fine."

* * *

"Ah, Lady Weiss," Glynda Goodwitch stood up from her desk and bowed to Weiss who came out of the elevator. "May I ask you what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see the Headmaster," said Weiss as she tipped her head in return. "I'd like to get a permission to visit several classes as an official observer."

"Pardon my ignorance but on what grounds, 'official?'"

Weiss's eye twitched as she reached for her Scroll, "Aside from my… personal history, I also have an Atlas Academy diploma on several subjects such as Dust T&A, economics and law: trade and federal alike."

The blonde woman studied the holographic document presented to her. "Very well. I understand."

Without another word, Goodwitch pointed at the door to Ozpin's office and sat back down behind her desk.

"Professor," she said into her tablet. "Lady Weiss wishes to see you to request a permission to attend classes as an observer."

" _ **Hello Glynda,"**_ Ozpin's smooth voice ringed out. _**"I see, let her in."**_

With the last nod, the trader walked up to the door and touched a display on the left side of the frame. The door quietly slid open and she walked inside.

"Ah, my lady," Headmaster turned around in his chair with an antique cup in hand. "Come in. Would you like coffee?"

The mess that was here the other day was gone and the office was almost _too_ clean. A small tea set stood near the edge of the desk. The glow that was here before is much dimmer due to shutters closed.

"No thank you, sir," Weiss bowed. "I don't have much time."

"Indeed, Glynda briefed me," Ozpin poured himself more of the drink. "If I may ask, why do you aim to visit the classes despite not showing interest in sticking around just yesterday?"

"I suppose you could say I've made new acquaintances," Weiss explained. "They asked me to attend. To alleviate their boredom, I assume."

"Rather blunt, if I can say so myself," Ozpin chuckled. "I like to think our professors provide more than textbook lectures."

"In what ways?"

"While the Grimm are not around, there are still ways to demonstrate skills and knowledge application for Huntsmen."

"I see. Anyways, about that permit…"

"Hmm, very well," the Headmaster pulled up a screen and started filing the document. "I'll give you a limited permission, just for a few days."

"Thank you, sir."

"However!" Weiss stopped mid-turn at the man's voice. "I have a small favor to ask of you in return."

" _Of course,"_ Weiss turned back around and straightened herself. "What is it that you need?"

"I hesitate to ask but I would like to request you to go back and visit Solitas Temple ruins," the Headmaster explained. "There might be more tomes of ancient literature or records hidden."

"While I didn't get to explore the temple even by half," Weiss replied. "I'm not certain there's anything left after all this time."

"Better be safe than sorry," Ozpin flicked his wrist in Weiss's direction as her Scroll dinged two times. "You did find _something,_ after all. I am not forcing you to do it right away, mind you."

"… Fine," the white-haired girl exhaled. "When would you like me to I leave?"

"Not sooner than your permit's expiration date. I want you to take in all Beacon Academy has to offer."

"All right," Weiss bowed and turned around, leaving the office.

* * *

Reading Ruby's message, Weiss made her way down and to the Right Tower, looking for classroom №2.0-1.5. For medium-sized towers, the buildings were maze-like and Weiss got almost lost a couple of times before she found the door she sought. The room was bustling with people: talking, laughing, watching videos and comparing notes.

At the far end of the highest row of seats sat Ruby, fiddling with her holo-disk, perhaps nervous with Yang and Blake sitting just two chairs further. Weiss began to move towards the seated girls, receiving curious and confused looks. The anxiety seemed to slightly drain from Ruby as she noticed Weiss just over three tables over. Blake kept reading something on her Scroll while Yang scooted closer to Ruby and waved.

"Hey Weiss!"

"Feeling anxious?" Weiss took a free chair and sat down next to Ruby. "Don't be."

"I can't help it," Ruby slumped down on the table. "This is one of the tests that will help determine my grades for the semester finals."

"Ah. Practice?"

"Yeah… and those two don't need to worry about it yet," the girl stuck her thumb out to the Faunus and blonde sister. "Anyways, is everything ok with the permit thing?"

"Mhm," Weiss pulled out the hologram of a small badge formed out of two crossed swords sticking out of a crown. Blake and Yang moved closer to examine the thing better. "Ozpin had to pull a favor-for-favor on me though."

"What kind of favor are we talking about?"

"I'm going to have to return to Solitas and look through the Solitas Temple ruins," the white-haired trader exhaled through the nose. "He believes there might be more hidden records and such."

"Ooooh, an adventure," Ruby's eyes sparkled every so slightly.

Weiss gave a little snort, "Hardly. Just a treasure hunt of sorts."

"That's what they say at the beginning of every adventure story."

"Whatever you say, Ruby," the trader sat until a synth bell sound rung out.

With last nod to the trio, Weiss got up to the desk where the professor would usually sit, to wait for said-professor. Just a moment after, a familiar young woman came through the door, sporting a sleeveless jacket over a dark red blouse with dark brown leather pants. Weiss observed as Pr. Fall walked slowly through the rows of people who lightened up as soon as she came into the room. The woman was popular it seemed.

"Oh," Cinder Fall halted. "Lady Weiss, what can I do for you? I'm afraid I won't have much time however."

"It's all right, professor," Weiss nodded and showed the badge. "I'm here as an official observer of promising students."

"Ah, so you're the person Glynda told me about," Cinder spoke very casually despite her position as a professor. She had that charisma in her slight movements and tone of voice. "Okay. I'll tend to the class and you take a seat over there."

Weiss followed Cinder's index finger, pointed at a table and a chair near the wall at the side, stood opposite to Cinder's desk. Taking a seat, the white-haired girl watched as students grew silent the moment Cinder lightly clapped.

"Ok guys, we have a visitor but don't get alarmed, she's merely observing what you can offer," Cinder jerked her head towards Weiss who gave an eye-roll and a wave of her hand in greetings.

The class was mostly quiet aside from Cinder's rather lax and sometimes cheek 'n tongue comments towards her students. Weiss couldn't help but notice how Ruby watched Cinder teach: actively _not_ taking notes and catching every movement made by the professor.

The trader took a note to maybe tease the girl later. Blake paid attention the most out of the three, Yang just sat with a wireless earphone in one ear, listening to the music and half-paying any mind to the professor.

" _Wow, Ms. Fall must be very forgiving and easy-going if she's doing that and didn't get called out yet,"_ Weiss noted.

"And now," Fall grabbed everyone's attention. "I believe it would be a good demo if I put Lady Weiss here on the spot."

Weiss's head snapped to the raven-haired teacher with wide eyes, watching as all students now were staring at her, "Pardon?"

"I was told you were a D.T&A practician, correct?"

"Uh, yes. But I've not brushed up on my skills or knowledge in some time," the white-haired girl tried to weasel out of the predicament.

"It'll be an opportunity to do so, then," Cinder smirked and gestured towards her desk, inviting Weiss to move to her spot.

Several students, including Yang, snickered while Weiss slowly shuffled to the desk, _"So that's why she's liked by everyone: she's very cheeky."_

Pr. Fall put her hands behind her back, "Now then, let's try this…"

* * *

It was miserable but fun, coming up with answers to physics of Dust. It felt like Fall threw her a bone with easier, more basic material: insulting and comforting at the same time to know that she was at least considerate.

"Yo, so," Yang chimed in as the four girls moved to the next classroom. "Is there any way you can take me with you on your scavenger hunt?"

"What kind of question is that?" Weiss frowned. "Of course not."

"Why not?"

"Not my place to do so. And I do not wish to."

"Wow, mean."

"Perhaps," the trader ignored the pout. "Why do you wish to go with me, anyways?"

"It's kind of boring here," Yang shrugged. "Thought it might be more fun with you on that adventure."

"You're training to be Huntress, Yang. You can't seriously tell me that you're not willing to put up with burden of learning things and pulling your weight."

"She's always been like that," Ruby commented, Blake nodded.

"Wow guys, thanks a lot," Yang snarked, still being promptly ignored.

The rest of the day went pretty much in the same mood, Yang and Ruby being a center of joking around with Blake mostly keeping quiet. At the end of the classes, the four girls went about their way: Yang went to the arena to train, Blake and Ruby have gone home, one to read in silence, the other to continue projects given to her in order to complete the practice grading.

Weiss on the other hand, stayed at the Academy's main Towers to ask around if anyone needed any merchandise. Surprisingly, Cinder Fall needed several crates of Burn Dust as well as Electricity Dust for her laboratory. Professor Peter Port needed Earth and Gravity Dust though he didn't specify why.

So far, staying at Vale Station proved to be quite profitable although making money was never Weiss's end goal but rather means to an end.

The white-haired trader decided not to intrude on the Xiao-Long household and went to "The Defiant" to spend rest of the day in, perhaps night too. Quickly making a detour to Tayiang's shop, notifying the man and leaving a number, Weiss headed to the hangar.

* * *

_**So, explanation: this chapter took 3-4 weeks to write. Two reasons for that, first one being is that I mainly write in batches. Second** _ **_one is that my relative got hit by a car, femur broken, can't stand or walk so I've spent last 3 weeks looking after them, as you see not much time to write._**

**_But not to worry, I'll try to divide my schedule to divert more time to the story from now on._ **


End file.
